Dragon Things On (Skyrim SI)
by Stormbringer117
Summary: Reposting. A Guy is transported to the Skyrim Universe and put in the body of a Dragon, he seeks to find the Dragonborn, stop Alduin and Generally Save the Day as a Servant of (Unwitting) Talos.


_**Hello this is a reposting of a Fanfiction I enjoyed, the link to the original is on my profile.**_

 _ **All credit goes to the Author 'Lord K'**_

 **Journal Entry #1 Welcome to Skyrim**

God damnit.

God Fucking Damnit!

Let me start from the beginning. Have you ever had that sensation when you wake up in the morning feeling like you have the worst hangover ever and no idea what happened? Now imagine feeling like that only, you also feel like you've gained an extra ten tons overnight and you're senses of balance and co-ordination are totally shot to hell. For the real icing on the cake, imagine all that and when you open you're eyes you now have god damn wings instead of hands and have been covered in scales.

That was me this morning.

I had no freaking clue what was going on until I noticed the large stone wall covered in "chicken-scratch" and markings in front of me. Up to that point, I thought I was still asleep and was more concerned with why I seemed to be dreaming I was some kind of wyvern. Then I noticed that the marks were glowing and I was being surrounded by what seemed to be glowing gases. By this point in time I was wondering what kind of asshole thought it would be fun to slip me drugs, and when could I have possibly been drugged. Then I almost had a heart attack.

I could now "read" the marks on the wall. But what it said did not give me warm fuzzy feelings.

 _To whichever SpaceBattler it may concern_

 _It has recently come to my attention that some of your fellow SpaceBattlers have been abducted or inserted into a variety of universes by a number of my rival or alternate omnipotent beings._

 _Sadly for you, I fully endorse and enjoy this practice, no matter who or what does so. As a case in point, you have a honor of being my latest plaything. By pulling a number of favors and deals, I have managed gain access to, and place you in the world of Nirn. More specifically, you are in the northern province of the continent of Tamriel. Welcome to Skyrim._

 _By now you should have noticed I have given you the form of a Dovah. Because I like being a bastard and giving my gifts a catch, I have only given you access to the known Thu'um and Dragon-Tongue words that are known to your world. However in exchange, I shall grant you the power to contact your fellow SpaceBattlers for help in your endevours._

 _"Lok Grah Flik"- Sky Battle Mirror_

 _Even as you read this, a certain dragon will be in the middle of attacking a certain town, inadvertently saving a certain being who will eventually slay him. I heartily encourage you to provide entertainment for myself and others who will be watching. Enjoy trying to survive and try not to let your soul get absorbed._

 _\- From your bastardly neighborhood Random Omnipotent Being._

I am so screwed.

I spent most of this morning simply trying to adjust to my new body, but I am still totally uncoordinated, prone to simply tripping over my own limbs and sure as hell wont be flying any time soon. I have yet to get a good look at myself but I do know I am covered in spines and hooks, since I keep on scraping or tearing up the sides of rocks or trees. Thankfully I seem to be colored in varying shades of whites and blacks, so at least I'll camouflage with my surroundings for now. On the other hand, I have no clue what part of Skyrim I'm in aside from it being mountainous and forested, there is snow everywhere and it is too god damn cold. If the snow here melts, I'll stick out like a sore thumb.

Also R.O.B is a asshole for more than just the usual reasons. He said I would have access to all the in game shouts but almost all of them seem underpowered or aren't working right. I used the "Contact SpaceBattles shout" and it seems to turn the closest flat surface of considerable size into a silvery pool I can scratch/write on using my wing's dew-claw.

I am not liking my survival chances right now.

 **Journal Entry #2 Taking Stock**

Woke up this morning. Realized I'm still in hell.

I decided to get away from the Word-Wall since there might be a chance in future for somebody to come and check the thing out after news of dragons' return spreads. My level of hatred for R. has increased even further than I thought possible since this morning. The asshole apparently thought that sticking the flightless "neo-dragon", who has no idea where he is, near a bunch of frost troll caves was funny. It did give me an opportunity to test what shouts I can actually rely on in a fight, so I might as well be thankful for that. Currently, I can reliably use;

Unrelenting Force - "Fus Ro Dah" - Force Balance Push

Fire Breath - "Yol Toor Shul" - Fire Inferno Sun

Frost Breath - "Fo Krah Diin" - Frost Cold Freeze

Become Ethereal - "Fiem Zi Gron" - Fade Spirit Bind

Throw Voice - "Zul Mey Gut" - Voice Fool Far

Storm Call - "Strun Bah Qo" - Storm Wrath Lightning

I didn't try to call Odahviing or Durnehviir for obvious reasons and I have yet to see another dragon, so until then I won't be able to know if Dragonrend works for me or not. Even if I could dragonrend them to the ground, they could probably kill me anyway as I'm still getting used my new form. For some reason all of the other shouts I've tried appear to be either underpowered or don't work properly for unknown reasons. I tried Ice form on a bear earlier and all that happened was it became a little frosty and rather pissed off.

I'm now heading for one of the larger mountains to the west of where I first woke up. Hopefully once I get up there, I'll maybe be able to recognize a landmark or something and figure out where in the hell I am. I passed out of the tree line earlier and there doesn't seem to be anything notable in the local area aside from more mountains and a small lake further to the north. If only I could fly. It's taking me forever to get up this mountain at my current pace and I don't want to be out in the open in the unlikely event another dragon comes by.

Aside from the trolls, all of the local wildlife I've seen so far doesn't seem to exotic. If the R.O.B. had just dropped me here as a bog-standard human and without an explanation of what's going on, I'd have probably thought I'd been teleported to some random mountain range back on earth. I heard some wolf howls earlier but haven't seen any yet. They probably already noticed me and are simply avoiding me because of my size. With how big I am and the amount of noise I make when moving, there is no doubt everything is hearing me way before I get into visual range.

It's a blessing and a curse Dovah don't seem to have much in the way of taste buds. A blessing because I can eat something that's been roasted charcoal black via fire-breath but refuses to cook through properly. A curse because it is unlikely I will ever get back a full range of taste sensitivity. I'm not sure wether being a Dovah means I don't have to eat or not, but for now I'll try and keep myself fed just incase. I do know that despite feeling like it was below zero for most of last night, I did not experience any adverse effects from the cold aside from discomfort. I do need to sleep at least, since I did eventually fall asleep.

I'll hopefully reach the top of the mountain I'm heading for tomorrow and report back what I can see.

 **Journal Entry #3 Lay of the Land**

I climbed the mountain today. I still have no fucking clue where I am.

If I had to sum up the surrounding area using three words, they would have to be "Mountains, Forest and lot's of god damn Snow". I'm definitely in one of Skyrim's larger mountain ranges, that's for sure, but as to which one, I have no absolutely no idea. There seem to be some signs of potential civilization out in this wilderness, however I'm not sure if I should take the risk of approaching them and risking being seen by the local people.

To the north, past the lake, I have seen what seems to be smoke rising during the day and what might be light reflections on the lake ice and water during the night. I'd hazard a guess that it's probably some sort of small town or village. To the south of here the is an old Nordic barrow. At least I think it's a barrow. I can't properly make out what it is from this distance, but it is certainly large and likely man-made. Finally to the east, I have seen what looks like some sort of mountain road or logging trail following a river. West of here is nothing notable aside from more mountains

I at the moment I'm undecided about which direction to take. The "barrow" or the town might be something I'd recognize but there's a chance of being seen either by the towns-folk or bandits if there are any who have made the barrow their camps. The road carries a similar risk of being seen as well.

I really need to figure out how to fly. Right now being ground bound is practically my greatest weakness. If I was in the air I could scout out areas, ambush prey and enemies, travel rapidly and escape from pretty much anything other than fellow dragons. And the dragonborn. Mustn't forget how badly that could go depending on what the dragonborn is like.

I wonder who or what the dragonborn will be in this world.

My three favorite dragonborns I created were a Bosmer Dark Botherhood assassin that specialized in stealth and bows, a Nordic murder machine who I completed the main quest with and a Kahjit sword and magic user who joined the Winterhold College. Sadly if I do run into the dragonborn, I highly doubt I'll end up encountering one I played and there is just as much chance I'll end up with either a psychotic murderer or a Blade supporter. I am so fucked if they kill Paarthurnax.

I've been trying to "train" my thu'ums against the local wildlife but I doubt I'm going to see any improvement in the strength of my non-working shouts any time soon. It's strange to describe but when I use a shout that "works" for me, it feels like it's flowing forth from something deeper within than simple lungs and vocal cords. On the other side of things, a shout that doesn't work properly will feel..."forced" is the closest way to describe it I guess. I'm not sure if it's R.O.B dickery or something I'm doing wrong, but whatever it is I hope I can fix it soon.

Tomorrow I'll decide which direction to head in. For now I'll keep trying to figure out how to fly and hopefully get more of my shouts working properly.

 **Journal Entry #4 El Banditos**

I decided to check out the barrow first. As I feared, there were bandits up the wazoo in this place.

I'm hoping nobody notices cares that these guys are all dead now. Due to the fact that I wasn't flying and basically just thrashing my way through the forest and ruins at ground level, I don't think they realized what I was. One moment I was examining the place for any distinctive traits or layouts that might tell me where I am, the next I was being ambushed and pelted by arrows from as bunch of sword slinging mountain men in furs charge me from all sides. Of course the instant I started breathing fire and calling down a thunder storm, they all turned and ran.

As cold hearted as it sounds, I tried to hunt them all down and kill them. I didn't want rumors that a flightless dragon is hanging around the area to get out so I spent much of the last two days acting like something out of a horror movie and chasing most of them through the surrounding woods. And what a massive pain in the ass and waste of time that turned out to be. I had the advantage that their weapons and arrows were so crap they couldn't do any serious damage (still hurts like hell though) and the ability to use thu'ums, however they knew the area like the backs of their hands, were more agile than me and could hide easily in the forest.

In all honesty, despite killing about ten or twelve of them I reckon I only got three quarters of the original band that attacked me. I say ten or twelve rather than a definitive number because at one point I collapsed part of ruin a bunch of them were hiding in and I'm not sure how many we're actually killed. Thankfully the survivors were all headed in south or westerly directions, so I'm hoping there's no towns or villages in those directions which I haven't seen yet. I'm planning to be long gone from this area by the time they tell someone of my existence. I wonder what in the hell could have possessed them to attack me? Even if they didn't realize I was a dragon, I'm a giant spiky lizard-thing.

Digging round the barrow yielded nothing useful. I couldn't recognize the outside area from anywhere in game and the entrance in to the tombs is too small for me to fit through. I'm not even sure if this barrow is inhabited by draugr since the bandits had taken over and from the amount of gear they had set up or stored around the camp, I'd say they'd have been hiding out here for a long time. Of course their chests full of gold, weapons, armor and other assorted gear are completely useless to me due to my current draconic state. I dragged it all off and buried it nearby in the event I ever want or need anything, but all in all, this little scouting trip has been a complete bust.

Seeing as the surviving bandits fled southwest-ish, I have decide to head in the opposite direction, northeast. The mountain road and river are in that direction, so my current plan is to head up there and then cross the river, before hiding higher up in the moutains and forest surrounding road and river. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to follow the road from a distance until it leads to a sign post or some sort of road marker. If I'm even luckier, a band of guards or a caravan might come by and be wearing or displaying something that will tell where I am or at least what Hold I'm in.

 **Journal Entry #5 The Backroads of Haafingar**

Thank God Fucking Euraka! I finally figured out where the hell I am!

It's been a few days since my last entry and just over a week since I arrived here, meaning it's also been just over a week since the "game" began and Helgan was attacked. I managed to cross the river and hide out in the hills without incedent and have been traveling eastward while shadowing the road for almost five days now. The road has intersected with two much larger cobbled roads that are regularly well used by travelers. I also saw a group of imperial soldiers marching southwards just today. During my journey following the road, I was mainly sleeping through most of the mornings so that I could watch the road in the later half of the day and afternoon for anyone or anything interesting. I'd then travel at night since, while I like to think I did the world a favor wiping out a bandit camp, I don't want end up killing some poor farmer or peasant who just happened to see me as they were going about their business.

Yesterday I waited until it was night before rushing down to check out the signpost. The majority of the places listed on the signs were towns that I don't remember existing in the game, but I did recognize three of the directions given. The northeast road leads to a number of unknown towns and Solitude, the south road leads to a bunch more unknown towns and Dragons Bridge, while the southwest road leads to a even more towns and Fort Hraggstad. I have never heard of any of the places listed as being on the road to the west, which I followed here, nor have I heard about any of the towns listed as being on the road to the east.

Considering I'm southwest of Solitude, north of Dragons Bride and northeast of Fort Hraggstad, I'd say it's most likely I'm in Haafingar Hold. Where exactly in Haafingar Hold I am is still up for debate. Everywhere around me has yet to change from mountains, forest and more mountains. However as I travelled eastward, I did get the feeling I was going down hill, more than I was going up.

On the subject of my appearance, R.O.B. needs to be shot and killed. Painfully. I checked out my reflection before crossing the river and almost had a heart attack. I look almost exactly like Alduin, except with the white and gray colorings of a frost dragon. The other main differences between Alduin and myself is that I have blue eyes, not red and rather than the spiked mace his tail ends in, mine ends in a serrated blade-like version the regular triangular spike most dragons have. My chances of being accidentally killed by the dragonborn, Paarthurnax and the Blades are higher than I originally thought. It doesn't help that wether I try and speak dragon tongue or english, I now sound like Ron Perlman gargling gravel.

Flying is still beyond my grasp even with the fact that I am slowly becoming used to my new body. I know there is probably some sort of "magical" aspect to hauling my ass into the air, but I don't know what it is or even how to activate it. Seeing as Dragonrend pulls a dragon to the ground, maybe there is a "opposite" shout to it that allows a dragon to move through the air? But then again, the dragons in game never shouted anything aside from attacks when taking off. Until I can find somewhere isolated though, I won't be able to experiment or practice shouts or flying as I'm still near the roads and could get caught. That and I don't want to set off any avalanches. If I die because of something stupid or inane, I doubt R.O.B. or Alduin will come along and resurrect me any time soon.

If I'm in Haafingar Hold, I'm hoping that if I keep heading east, I'll leave this god damn mountain range and end up in the foot hills above either the swampland or the bay. I'll leave the road and travel cross-country so I can practice shouts and flying. Once I'm out of these mountains, I should be able to better narrow down where I am and where I want to go next.

 **Journal Entry #6 Far Horizons**

God damn it, how big is this place?!

I've finally left the mountains and can see the bay along with the swamps that are north of Morthal just on the horizon, but looking north or south, there are no noticeable landmarks. Aside from the road that is. Bethesda had it spot on in game when they made the main road to Solitude up on a cliff boarded on one side by steep mountains and a steep drop down to the bays, towns and harbours on the other. I'm currently hiding out on a mountainside above the road watching the traffic as it goes by. While it doesn't compare to our modern highways, there's been a constant stream of people moving on this road within line of sight of each other during the day and at night this stretch of road is regularly patrolled by the guards of a nearby fishing village.

Over the previous few days I spent meandering through the mountains of Haafingar Hold, I've made varying amounts of success with learning to fly and shouting. I after a lot of pain, self-humiliation and good old fashion trail and error, I have gliding in a straight line mostly down pat. Only it's not so much gliding as using my wings more like drag-chutes to slow my decent. There must definitely be so sort of shouting or magical aspect to flying which I missing. My body is simply to heavy and non-aerodynamic to fly. Experimenting and thinking back over how dragons in the game flew did lead me to one useful conclusion. A dova's wings are not meant for creating lift like a birds or insects. They are meant more for maneuvering and generating quick bursts of speed, rather than sustained flapping and lift generation.

It was a similar case of "not much progress, but an increase in understanding the mechanics" when it came to shouting. In this case, I have figured out why some shouts work for me and some don't. It's not just about x + y translates to z, nor is it just about understanding the individual words. It's about understanding how the words can interact with one another and focusing on those interactions rather than the word itself. It's why Paarthurnax encourages the dragonborn to meditate on shouts and why in game, the meditations give you different effects. It's like...arghhh it's like something I never felt as a human. Think about it this way. A shout is like commanding ideas and "knowing" how they will effect each other. The words are what give the thu'um power and a source and/or direction to act through, but your "understanding" of how these three words can relate to the process is literally what provides the shaping and frame work for the shout. With out that "framework" it's like trying push water through a hose that's been stabbed to bits. What is going wrong for me is I that I lack understanding behind the concepts and interactions that cause some of these shouts to work.

If anything, it's amazingly lucky the shouts that do work for me are effective at all. Hilariously they work because of SCIENCE. In all seriousness, I think what has happened is I am thinking of everything in concepts from my home universe rather than in concepts or ideas a person in Mundus would use, but my understanding, belief and knowledge in what I do know is close enough to still work here. The problems start with the introduction of words I don't have any "relatable" ideas or proper understanding for. That's why things like Drain Vitality and Kyne's peace don't work for me. To me magic has always been simply a thing of fantasy or suspension of disbelief but here it is literally a law of the universe. A equivilant scenario would be if you have to explain gravity to someone. You don't know the nitty-gritty details, but you know enough to explain the concept.

That is what I lack. I don't even have the basic knowledge for how to explain the concept, let alone create a deeper understanding of how it works and how it would be effected by the other words of the shout. As far as I can tell, there are three ways to fix this problem.

1) I study. Books on magical lore and Word Walls would probably be most effective at increasing my knowledge of magic and dragon tongue.

2) I go dragonslayer and try and to steal or absorb the souls of other dragons in order to gain their knowledge and power, in order to increase my own.

3) I follow what Paarthurnax turned to after the dragon wars and regularly meditate and reflect on what words I know and new ones when I learn them.

If I don't end up as dragon chow, killed by Blades or another random dragon soul within the dragonborn, a combination of strategies one and three would probably be best. For now I'll have to rely the incomplete knowledge of the dragon tongue R.O.B. gave me and meditating whenever I have the chance to. Now that I know what I'm doing wrong, the next step is understanding what to do right. Coming up with my own shouts might help with this and supposedly the most powerful of the dragons were able to do this on the fly, so the next time I'm in an isolated area I'll start experimenting with things and see what happens. At the very least I want to figure out a shout that will help me fly.

Right now my newest challenge is deciding where to go. The easiest route to southern Skyrim and then the Throat of the World would be to follow the coast down to Dragons Bridge and then head up the Reach Valley. I'll keep passing bridges so hopefully the one that connects the Reach to Roarikstead and Whiterun will be marked by a sign post or something. If it is, I can then follow it into the Whiterun Valley. The problem with this route is that it's very likely I'll get noticed so it might be best just to hang around here until I can fly, then follow that route. The route less likely to get me noticed would be to swim across the bay to the swamps north of Morthal and then head south through the swamps, around Morthal and then over the central Skyrim mountain range which will lead me into the Whiterun Valley. The first problem with that route is that I run the risk of meeting the more dangerous creatures of Skyrim as there is more chance of finding them in areas outside human habitation. The second is I don't know if dova can swim. Maybe if I grabbed a tree trunk and went over it with frost-breath until it is covered in a layer of ice? I wonder if that would allow it to work as a floatation device.

On a final note - Horkers taste like slated fatty ass. I am _never_ eating one of those over sized lard-cakes again.

 **Journal Entry #7 I Believe I Can Fly  
**  
I Believe I can touch the skyyyyy. Heh, that songs been stuck in my head all day and for good reason.

That's right people, I can fly now!

After almost being seen by a group of women who were looking for birds eggs along the cliffs, being almost seen by a group of hunters and then again by a bunch of guards, I decided that becoming more mobile is a priority. Eventually I am going to get seen by something that is capable of wounding me and faster than me on the ground: Being able to fly would instantly put me out of reach of the vast majority of those things. For these reasons I turned around and headed back inland for a dozen or so kilometers and then spent a week destroying the local forest through a combination of crash landings after gliding off of a nearby mountain and experimenting with and testing self made shouts. Flying is definitely partially based on shouting, but why the in game dragons never shout anything when taking off, I'll explain my theory on later.

At first I tried simply slapping together words from what little of the dragon tongue I do know, but as I discovered, shout creation still relies on "understanding" the interactions and effects between words. "Gol Kren Motaad" - Earth Break Shudder was the first useful working shout I came up with. What it does is create a small localized earthquake which, in the right conditions, can cause anything in the area to start sinking into a quagmire of liquefaction. At first, the words of the shout look like it should simply rend gouges in the earth and shake it, but it is actually quite "focused" in a way. "Gol" gives the shout it's medium and a focali to act upon, the earth or dirt in the area of effect. In response to being enacted upon through "Gol", the earth rumbles and releases a large "shockwave" that would probably stagger most people or knock them off their feet. "Kren" does break the ground but not in a "chasms appear in the earth" kind of way. Instead it is used to loosen and break apart any roots, loosen stones and gravel and break apart compacted dirt within the ground. This is all in preparation for the final word of the shout, "Motaad". Shudder is where the really interesting things happen. With all of the loosened soil and with most objects and people most likely already knocked off their feet or on the ground, Shudder causes the ground to vibrate vapidly rather than in the shockwave-like motion "Gol" creates. I'll admit I was originally going for a 7.0 Richter scale type of earthquake, but accidentally making a grove of trees and a pair of elk be swallowed up by the earth when the ground around them liquefacted proved the usefulness of this thing to me.

The next shout I came up with was "Haas Sien Gron" - Health Flesh Bind. This one could probably be more effective if I knew more words in the dragon tongue, but for now it does it's job. This one is actually simpler than Earth Break Shudder, but has a lot more potential for future modification. "Haas" restores the damaged flesh back to full health so I'm hoping it will cure most diseases and infections. "Sien" provides focus for the previous word and makes the flesh more "malleable" and open to the effects of the first and third words. I'd have preferred to know the dragon tongue word for "knit together" but for now "Gron" does the job. Bind allows the shout to close and heal most muscle and flesh wounds, however if the bear and wolves I was "experimenting" on were any indication, organs and bones are not effected by this shout and it is still possible to die from blood loss or shock even after the injury has been healed.

To create a shout that would allow me to fly was nowhere near as easy. I believe I eventually got lucky and through a lot of meditation I found part of the answer to why dova can fly. I believe it is actually ingrained in a dragons soul to want to fly. Before this whole thing began I never really cared for flying. It was simply a way to travel long distances and a source of tactical superiority. But since I arrived here, I was constantly dismayed that I couldn't fly and it simply didn't feel natural to be on the ground. This is why it took me a while to come up with a shout to get me into the air, as the ideas behind the words of this shout were slightly more abstract and spiritual than the first two shouts I came up. "Krif Viing Bo"- Flight Wing Fly. A dragon is meant for flight. It is not a matter of body but a yearning of the soul. Their natural place is on the wing, surveying their territory and all they have conquered. To fly is to become farther from the mortal and base realm of Nirn, becoming closer to the unending and ageless void from which you can reign and dominate those below .

It was an amazing experience to fly for the first time. At least until I hit a tree. The "understanding" I gained for how and why dragons fly may explain why they never need a shout for it. It may also explain why Paarthurnax has not left the Throat of the World for so long and looks like he's falling apart. By suppressing his draconic nature, he has probably suppressed part of the drive that allows him to fly and be un-aging. His soul is still immortal, but as we see in game with Alduin giving dragons new bodies and the dragonborn regularly destroying them to absorb more dragon souls, a dragons body isn't.

Once I got the hang of flying, a lot of self testing and scouting was performed. As flying is mostly soul/shout based, I don't actually seem to tire while flying for long periods. Using a shout while flying does cause me to slowly lose altitude due to the fact that I am having to divide my focus and attention between the two different shouts and the thoughts surrounding them. This is probably why in game the dragons have to land from time to time after attacking from the air or performing strafing runs on you, yet if you or they don't attack, you can have dragons like Odahviing who will circle above the Throat of the World day and night without stoping, yet still have to land when you call them and they fight.

Scouting out the area hasn't shown me much that's useful. There are fishing villages and trader towns all up and down the coast but I haven't seen Solitude, Dragons Bridge or anything else that's recognizable.

At the moment I'm heading south along the coast and have run into a bit of a road block. For some reason a small force of Thalmor soldiers and Justiciars have set up shop outside of a small fishing and market town and have been constantly patrolling the woods and watching the roads. They are searching for something but I don't think it's me. What ever they are doing, even from up here on the cliffs where I'm hiding, I can see that the people are not liking what's happening. There's not many people in town during the day and at night the only people out are the Thalmor. Even the town guards aren't out at night. The contingents of imperial soldiers who regularly travel the road don't seem to want to hang around here either. Previously I noticed that imperial troops will usually stop for the night in or near towns, but these guys kept on going even though it was sundown.

Until they leave, I don't want to try and travel incase they see me.

 **Journal Entry #8 Motherfucking Nazi Elves**

I am either in _really_ deep shit or have sort of endeared myself to a small town's worth of people.

Last night I woke up to the sound of a full blown riot. Deciding to see what was going on, I took to the skies and settled into a slow circle above town, using only "Krif Viing Bo" to keep myself aloft so they don't hear wing beats. The Thalmor had apparently grabbed a whole bunch of what I'm assuming were a major group of Talos worshippers due to the fact that there was a couple of priest-y looking guys amongst the people being dragged from different houses to the town square. I'd hazard a guess that they were sold out by one of their own, judging by the fact that the towns folk were looked practically ready to charge the Thalmor to get to one normal looking guy standing amongst them. I couldn't actually hear anything from the height I was circling at, but I could easily see and read the mood of the crowds that were converging on the square following the Thalmor. Most of them seemed to just be following herd behavior and were tailing along to the squre to find out what was going on in the middle of the night, but a number of them had already broken out the torches and pitch forks.

When everybody was finally in the town square and the Thalmor were on top of the steps surrounding the town hall, the Thalmor with the fanciest looking robes started speaking and I presume was preaching on about something. One of the Talos priests yells something, to which he gets a punch to the guts for his troubles. The crowed do not like this. Not. One. Bit. A bit of magic and intimidation puts down the crowd but apparently the Thalmor still have a show to put on.

The priest who cried out earlier is then yelled at but he is obviously refusing to obey the order. Eventually the Thalmor behind him kick and beat him so he is now kneeling before the fancy robed Thalmor. By this point the crowd seem to be stunned or cowed into silence and people are slowly trying to move the children to the back. It's obvious they're going to try and make public examples of these guys. I didn't want to reveal myself but neither did I want to see a public execution. I was about to turn and make my escape while the Thalmor were distracted when something happened. Despite having just been beaten and having his hands bound, the priest manages to launch himself off the ground and charge the head Thalmor. Some of the Thalmor in the behind him shoot the priest's back full of arrows, bringing him to his knees. The head Thalmor then conjures a bound sword and decapitates him.

The priest's "resistance to the last breath" seems to spur the crowd and a good number of them charge up the stairs to get at the Thalmor. This is when things start getting ugly. The head Thalmor and two of his buddies start shooting fireballs and lightning indiscriminately into the crowd hitting not just the ones charging them, but a number of the innocent people and surrounding building. Within seconds, a dozen people are dead, even more are injured and parts of the town square are on fire. In a town which is mostly made out of wood and thatch and is situated up on a cliff away from the water.

I came to a decision. Fuck this. I'm not going to stand idly by while a bunch of racist assholes kill innocent people and destroy their homes and livelihoods. So I fly high above the town and let loose the biggest roar I have yet made while using Storm Call so that the rains will put out the fires. An interesting thing of note I found then. I sound like a gravely Ron Perlman when I'm trying to speak human normally. When enraged my shouts and voice sound like an angry, psychotic Dark Templar from Starcraft 2, minus the echo. A white dragon swooping down out of the blackness of the night and highlighted by the back drop of lightning from the thunderstorm that appeared out of nowhere must have been pretty fucking terrifying for everyone on the ground.

I landed on top of the town hall, crushing part of the roof and the doorway in, giving the Thalmor no place to hide unless they bolt across the square. Before they could react, I bit down hard on the nearest Thalmor mage, almost breaking him in half and then wildly shook my head until his legs and waist split off and flew into the square. By this point in time most of the towns folk had already run off and the Thalmor were in shock, so I spat out the other half of the body and then used fire-breath to burn the other mage and two Thalmor archers into ash. I'll admit that I decide to ham it up to seem more intimidating, so when the stunned and blood splattered head Thalmor tried to stammer out orders, I cut him off with;

 _ **"THE WILL OF TALOS DEMANDS YOU DIE!"**_

I then took to the air again to avoid being shot full of arrows and fireballs, and took out more of them circling the square and blasting them with fire and frost breath strafing runs. Eventually I had to land in order to re-focus "Krif Viing Bo", putting me at risk of their attacks. I took a few fireballs to the face and wings, but the damage the caused was negligible and any arrows or attacks against me on foot I repelled using Unrelenting Force. It was either the second or third time I landed that I came out with the gem

 _ **"FOOLISH MER! I AM OF THE CHILDREN OF AKATOSH! YOU CAN NOT HARM ME!"**_

If I end up a bad guy, I just know I'll be the hammiest dragon ever.

At this point the town square is wrecked thanks to a combination of me landing on the roofs of buildings, area of effect damage thanks to my shouts, Storm Call lightning strikes, errant Thalmor fireballs, chain lightning and frost spikes, me smashing a frost atronarch through a shop front, and a flame atronarch kamikazing me when I landed in the square at one point. Oh, and the blood and gore thanks to me taking bites out of any Thalmor unlucky or stupid enough to get close to me. Thankfully the rest of the town is undamaged and any fires that would have spread are probably being put out by the rains from Storm Call. What the Thalmor have failed to notice is that while I've been attacking them, some of the villagers have snuck back into the square and have freed the Talos worshippers and remaining priests before fleeing. The Thalmor came close to noticing what was happening twice, but the first guy to notice I froze then smashed, the second one I swooped down and carried him off before dropping him from about 30 meters and at a decent speed into the side of a building.

The Head Thalmor just _refused_ to die. No matter how many times I shouted at him, he always managed to dodge at the last minute or heal himself. After I had killed more than half of the original thirty or forty Thalmor, he finally noticed all his prisoners had escaped and commanded his remaining forces to retreat. I didn't want to cause much more damage so as I chased them out of the town and into the woods and mountains above the road, I stopped using fire-breath and stuck to frost. Along the way out of the town I managed to kill another three of the Thalmor. I almost had the head Thalmor but at the last moment he ducked and I ended up biting the head off of the guy in front of him.

Having pretty much blown all pretenses of stealth during the fight, I flew back to the town square and used my claws to carve a giant symbol of Talos into the ground. Then for lack of anything else impressive to do, I roared, blew fire into the sky and then took off. Once in the air I used Storm Call again so that any remaining fires would be put out and then flew into the clouds so that I wouldn't be seen heading into the mountains.

Part of me is worried that these people will have "repatriations" put upon them by the Thalmor, and I don't want that to happen just because I decided to intervene. At that same time, it would probably be safer for me to just head south then east in order to reach the Throat of the World. Alduin went from the southeast to the northwest reviving dragons and I don't want to end up running into him in the Whiterun Valley when he's there to raise or is raising that dragon buried west of Roarikstead.

 **Journal Entry #9 I'm Not a Talos Worshipper, I'm a "Tourist"**

The next six days after the battle with the Thalmor were spent hunting them down through the forest and mountains. As much as it pains me to say it, the head asshole got away. It didn't help that these Thalmor follow the lore rather than the game so the majority of the guys I didn't find we're probably Bosmer or users of illusion magic. Funnily enough, the joke someone threw out about Thalmor being stringy or chewy was right and it doesn't help that Elven armor is rather sharp and pointy on some parts. At least it's still weak enough for me to bite and shout apart. Also the earthquake/liquefaction shout I came up with is more dangerous than I thought. I cornered one Thalmor on a mountainside, used "Gol Kren Motaad" and accidentally brought down part of the mountainside. It killed the guy but it is definitely going on the "do not use around friendlies" list.

Along with that guy, there was the one I couldn't resist "Fus Ro Dah"ing off of a cliff, there was a bunch I set on fire, another two who I froze then smashed, the guy I landed on, the one who had a tree fall on him, the one I picked up and then dropped on top of a pair of frost trolls, the other guy who wasn't paying attention to where he was running and ended up spider chow, the group who I dropped rocks on and the group who I pushed into a glacial crevasse. I'd say that including the head Thalmor, I missed five or six of them. Eventually I gave up and made my way to the coast and checked out if the town was okay.

The place is now packed to the rafters with "tourists" and Thalmor. The square where the fight took place is still un-repaired and the Thalmor and imperial guard have blocked off access to that part of town. Sadly they have yet to block off access to the cliffs above the town nor do they seem to realize the giant symbol of Talos I carved into the ground is visible from up here. There is a massive number of visitors to the town with their reason for visiting being "To go camping in the hills". I was hiding out on a section of cliffs when I heard an imperial guard talking about this with another guy as they walked by below me. Actually on second thought, I think the imperials do know the symbol and square are visible from the hills, they just haven't told the Thalmor.

I'm thinking of continuing down the coast soon, as the number of "tourists" that have decided to "camp" up here is getting ridiculous. I'm having to move further and further up the mountain or down the coast to avoid people either hunting, exploring or looking for me. At least the majority of people up here are Talos worshi - I mean "Tourists" so while it's less likely I'll attacked on sight, I don't want it known I'm still in the area. There actually was one incident where I was seen but I like to think that even if the person who found me says they saw me, their story won't gather much notice.

I'm still in my habit of sleeping for most of the mornings and being more active in the evenings, so I'll usually cover myself in dirt and plant matter, then hide in caves, hollows or deep valleys when I sleep. Then one morning I woke up to the sound of a young child calling for her parents. Opening an eye, there was a young girl of about seven or eight, curled up on the ground. Obviously this isn't the games where children are invulnerable because she looked like she had slipped down the slope into the hollow I had been hiding in and become covered in dozens of cuts and scratches from the bushes, shrubs and roots on the way down. She was probably more upset due to the shock of being cut than any sort of serious injury.

I was trying to figure out what I should do when she looked up and noticed my eye staring at her. Slowly she stopped crying and seemed to be paralyzed in a mixture of fear,shock and awe. Deciding that there wasn't much risk since she was a child and I would be more likely to be found when her family comes looking for her, I began to slowly get up and approach her. I was hoping she was the child of Talos worshippers who had come to check out the town. It seemed I was right as once she realized I wasn't going to eat her, she squinted at me curiously and asked in that blunt way children are known for;

"Are you really a dragon?"

I could help but chuckle a that and decide to play along as the "mighty and just" servant of Talos. Once again it was Ham Factor Go!

 **"Yes young one, I am a Dova. Or as your kind know us, a dragon."**

She simply looked at me funny and came out with "You look too pointy to be a dragon. Are you one of the good dragons?"

 **"Aye, I am...pointy, but never the less, I am a dragon. As for if I am a good dragon, Talos would not have chosen me to be a manifestation of his will if I was bad right?"**

"What's a man-e-fester-tion?"

Inwardly I was facepalming of the fact that I forgot most 7 year olds wouldn't understand what words like  
manifestation would mean. I decided to switch tracks.

 **"Something which matters little right now. Come before me child and let me heal your wounds."**

She looked a bit scared for a moment, obviously wondering what I would do before she put on a hilariously cute "brave face" and stepped in front of me. Her face had this look of absolute wonder when I softly uttered "Haas Sien Gron" and used it to heal the cuts, scraps and slowly growing bruises she got when she fell into the hollow. After she was healed, I told her to climb onto my head, after which I climbed out of the hollow and allowed her to climb off. Kindly asking her not to reveal she had seen me yielded another funny incident.

"So I can't tell anybody I met you?" She looked so heart broken at that request.

 **"I am sorry young one, but it is important for Talos and myself that I remain hidden. To do so you must keep the fact that you met me a secret."**

"So it's a very important secret?"

 **"A** _ **very**_ **, very important secret."**

"Then we have to pinky-promise on it!" I only just avoided having my mouth drop open and laughing at how ridiculous it sounded, but I ended up smiling and nodding before holding out the dew-claw of one of my wings.

 **"Yes, you are right. A secret this great must be kept as a pinky-promise."**

After almost laughing at watching her try to wrap a finger around a claw the size of her own arm, I prepared to fly off and look for somewhere I'd be less likely to be disturbed by people or small wandering children. However the girl did have one more question.

"Wait! My names Aesa, what's yours?"

 **"What!?"**

"Mama always says you should always introduce yourself when you meet new people and we haven't introduced ourselves yet"

Ahhhh the nativity and trust of children. Calling myself K would probably not sound anywhere near impressive, so I quickly stuck a few words together in the dragon tongue. Most dragon's names are actually descriptions of themselves so I feel "Human Dragon Soul" describes me well.

 **"You may call me Juldovasil little one. Take care and farewell."**

With a final nod to her, I used "Krif Viing Bo" and took off for the mountains while hugging the tree tops to avoid being seen.

And that was the story of how I met a little girl named Aesa. I'm just hoping the real Talos doesn't take offense at me impersonating a avatar of his will, first with the Thalmor and then with this little girl. It's kind of hilarious that I feel worse about lying to a random little girl than I do about viciously wiping out those Thalmor. Is my sense of morality getting skewered?

Anyway, I'm now headed south to dragons bridge. To many damn "tourists".

 **Journal Entry #10 Summonings, More Shouts and Moral Quandaries.**

Guess what happened in the middle of last night? I'll give you a hint. It starts with "Dova", ends with "Kiin" and, considering it was heard this far north, must have woken up every living (and maybe dead) thing in Skyrim. Take a guess?

It's the god damn Greybeard summons.

I knew considering how long it's taking me to fly from some random town to Dragonsbridge (three days have passed) that it would be unlikely I'll reach Whiterun before the watchtower attack, but damnit! It would have been easier to ally myself with the dragonborn or Paarthurnax before the attack. Actually getting anywhere now is going to get so much harder with people being watchful for the dragons which sided with Alduin. It doesn't help I look like him.

This does show how big this place is though. In game, the only three places of note between Solitude and Dragonsbridge are that random mill, the shrine to the daedra with the undead problem and a Stormcloak camp. While I may have missed those three landmarks and I'm not sure how fast I'm going, I'm definitely covering a lot of distance each day. I might have lost track of the time at some point, but I do know I have been here for about a month and a half. For the Greybeards to summon the dragonborn, that means it's taken the dragonborn a month and a half to go from Helgan, to Riverwood, down to Whiterun, then back up to Riverwood and then Bleakfalls Barrow and finally back to Whiterun.

I suppose I can aim to catch them if they hopefully pass through Whiterun on the way to grab the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Another tactic I could use to catch the dragonborn that won't earn me any brownie points with the blades, would be to head into the swamps after passing through Dragonsbridge and try and find the barrow where the horn is hidden. If I am lucky enough to find it, I can just camp there and stop the blade chick from taking the horn, or if I'm to late, meet the dragonborn when he or she arrives. Or I could follow through with the original plan and focus on getting to Paarthurnax and the Throat of the world.

Other than being woken up in the middle of the night by Greybeards, the past few days since I left the cliffs above the town have been uneventful aside from picking up meditation again and trying to develop more shouts. It was frustrating just circling around above the town that night, without being able to hear or properly understand what's going on. For that reason I put a lot of effort into creating a shout that could overcome this weakness and allow me to listen in on things from range. The end product of my attempts is "Hon Zul Morah"- Hear Voice Focus. It's like being able to wire tap whatever you shout at from range. It was a pain in the ass to put together though. Originally I kept on blowing out my ear-drums and having to stop and heal them because the first few versions of the shout picked up the sounds of EVERYTHING in a area. The focus isn't just there to help me hear what I'm listening in on. It also helps stop the shout from picking up loud background noises.

Finally the subject of my mental health and well being.

At first I thought nothing of it. Then I realized that there actually was something pretty damn wrong with my moral compass and I hadn't even noticed until you guys pointed it out. Since I arrived here the main thought in my mind has been to find safety and get more powerful. After the first few days I stopped worrying about home. Until you guys brought it up I hadn't even thought about home in a while. I've killed a hell of a lot of people since arriving here. First the bandits and now the Thalmor. And while at first there was some worry and feelings of guilt, later it wouldn't bother me at all.

It didn't help that since deciding on my name, I been feeling a bit more...human for lack of a better word, so a after realizing all this I had a bit of a meltdown for an hour or two.

Eventually I came to an epiphany of sorts. Not only is my body no longer human, my soul is no longer human either. If to was still human I wouldn't be able to use shouts or fly. To all intents and purposes I AM a Dova. A creature meant to conquer, dominate and subjugate all within it's paths. But that is only part of what defines me. To throw away my human knowledge and understandings would be to throw away a part of me. That would be like spitting upon my heritage and no dragon would dare spit upon with their connection to Akatosh.

I am Myself! For I am Me! I am JULDOVASIL!

... god, I am such a ham.

Anyway, while I try and keep on top of the existential arguments and questions in my brain, it would probably be best for you guys to act as my moral compass. I've also taken up meditation so I don't end up slipping even further down the path of the darkside. Maybe impersonating Talos' will might do me good.

With luck my next journal entry should be from the mountains outside Dragonsbridge. Unless of course something else happens.

 **Journal Entry #11 Something Else Happens.**

By the time I get to Whiterun I'm going to be seen as some sort of guardian angel/dragon for Talos worshippers, I just know it.

I'm currently hiding in the mountains above Dragonsbridge and watching a growing crowd amass on the outskirts of town. The reason for this is that the slowly growing story of "The White Dragon of Talos" has probably just had another chapter added to itself. Yes, that's right, apparently the whole "I am the will of Talos" thing has really taken off and is bound to keep growing. But first let me back track.

The day before I finally arrived in the mountains around Dragonsbridge, I was shadowing the road from the air and minding my own business, when I see fireballs and lightning flashing up from the road ahead. Diverting off course and heading for the road out of interest, I see a massive group of bandits attacking a trade caravan of about ten carts. These were obviously the "rape, murder and pillage" style of bandit since they weren't taking prisoners and looked like they had done this sort of thing many times before.

Like hell I was going to let them get away with this! I'm trying to hold on to my morality and this was obviously the kind of situation where there were innocent people to protect and assholes nobody would miss to be slaughtered. It was Storm Call time. Roughly repeating what I did in the town, I used the thunderclouds to mask my arrival and then roared loudly before diving out of the center of the storm while surrounded by lightning. Basically I tried to make myself look like the personified wrath of an angry god being delivered straight from the heavens.

As soon as I touched down, I used "Gron" (but not "Kren" or "Motaad") to knock everybody off of their feet. I then immediately then shot forward and made a meal out of one of the tougher looking bandits in better armor than the rest. Unlike the Thalmor who had at least some military training, most of the bandits turned tail and ran. Some of them stayed and tried to fight, but they quickly realized how futile resistance was. Nothing they had could harm me and I made sure to pick off their mages first whenever I saw one. Once the caravan guards realized I was more preoccupied with killing the bandits than eating them or their employers, they joined in and the remaining bandits were pretty quickly annihilated.

The guards were happy enough to run the bandits off but I followed them from the air as they ran through the forest and roasted a good number of them, just to get the message across that they weren't welcome back here. After losing the remaining few survivors, I flew back to the caravan to see how many people survived. While I was happy I saved the caravan, a little part of me was annoyed I had blown my location again. But then of course, _that_ had to happen. That in this case, was a young man, barely out of his teens from how he looked, cradling the body of a young woman in his arms.

At first I just hovered in the air, watching the traders trying to salvage what they could and didn't pay much attention to this young man. But then he goes over to a rucksack, pulls out something and holds it out as he slowly walks towards where I'm hovering. One of the guards moves to stop him approaching me but a trader motions for him to stay. Soon everybody's eyes were on me and this guy. I look closely and what do you know?

It's a fucking amulet of Talos.

By this point I decided, what the hell, it's not like I've already wiped out some bandits so whatever I do next can't be more attention grabing. Me and my big mouth. I landed before him and turned on the Ham Factor.

 **"Speak. For I am the Will of Talos."**

The poor guy looked like he was both scared beyond belief by my presence, but desperate enough to seek it.

"Please great one. I... I'll admit I have never...never been a truly devout servant of your lord...but Serene... my betrothed has always been unwavering in her faith."

At this point he kneeled down and you could practically feel the desperation rolling off of him.

"Please save her if you can!"

This was what I fucking get for impersonating a divine beings will. I have to perform miracles in his name. Well, it's not like I would have refused the poor bastard before me anyway. Of course I was going to give it my best try.

"Arise young master. Talos desires only your faith. To believe in him alone is faith enough."

I made my way over to the young woman Serene and thanked god for the fact that it was something I ate ast some chance of fixing. She had been shot in the left side of the neck, left thigh and upper right arm from somewhere in front of her. It was actually amazing she was only passed out from shock, not dead. Nobody had attempted to remove the arrows (probably thinking she was done for) so she hadn't bled out yet but it was still a honest to god miracle she had survived this long. It was time to take a risk and hope like hell this worked. And maybe start praying to the real Talos.

"You two over there! We require your aid."

After press-ganging two of the caravan guards into helping the young man remove the arrows, I would immediately close and heal the wound with **"Haas Sein Gron"**. For a long time it looked like we might lose her. God, it was even worse than circling above that town not knowing what's going on. As soon as I have the chance, I'm going to come up with a blood replenishing shout. Eventually her breathing eased up and it was decided it was safe enough to put her on a cart. After that the young man and I exchanged farewells.

"I...I can't thank you enough. We have no healers with our caravan so Serene would have perished without your help...If there is anyway to repay this kindness -" I cut him off there and replied;

 **"I am merely the extenstion of Talos' Will. To serve as his hand on this plane is reward enough. If you feel you must repay me in some way, simply place faith in Talos. That is all he asks."**

He nodded and backed away as I prepared to take off. "Thank you."

Forgive me for dropping this line but I could help returning with **"Talos protects"**.

After that, an other day's worth of flying brought me here to Dragonsbridge. I've been resting up in the mountains for the past few days, but this morning the caravan I saved rocked up into town. Feeling curious I left the mountains and hid in the forest nearby where the caravan was had setup camp. It was there I learned that apparently stories of my little run in with the Thalmor have become rather wide spread now. And that was before I saved this caravan and healed the chick. She actually survived and from what I heard using my "wire-tap" shout, she's currently being treated at the local temple and is recovering well.

Fuck, I hope the Thalmor don't start hunting me or something.

 **Journal Entry #12 The Assholes Come Back**

Ironically I had another run in with the Thalmor, only they weren't actually looking for me.

Considering the last time I impersonated the Will of Talos, the Thalmor shut down the center of an entire town, so I really should have expected them to appear this time. It's a good thing their armor is that shiny gold color, and the few guys with the greenish highlights from glass armor were even more noticeable. I'd been preparing to continue on with my journey and head east across the river so I could decide wether to follow the Whiterun river southeast or head northeast to the swamps, when I saw a band of them marching down the main road to Dragonsbridge from the north.

My interest was peaked immediately, so I took off and hid in some low cloud above Dragonsbridge, and used the "wire-tap" shout to listen in on what was going on. It had only been a few days since the caravan had reached town and news of "The Second Miracle of the White Dragon of Talos" had already made it's way to the ears of the Thalmor. I'm guessing that due to Dragonsbridge serving as the headquarters for the Pentius Oculatus, either they or Thalmor spies are to blame.

I couldn't track the conversation when the Thalmor went into the main barracks, but when they left, they were headed to the nearby temple of Mara. They were obviously headed for the girl Serene, most likely because I had healed her. Like hell I was gonna let them take her. Sadly I couldn't just fly down and annihilate them for no apparent reason, as they were still in the centre of town and if my last battle with the Thalmor was any indication, collateral damage was bound to be high in an even larger town like Dragonsbridge. I was going to have to go about this another way.

Using the first word of Storm Call to slowly make the sky overcast and rainy, thus allowing me to move unseen above the town, I made my way over to the outskirts where the caravan had been parked for the last few days. My plan was to find Serne's lover and use Throw Voice from the clouds to make it seem like the Will of Talos was giving him a divine warning that his fiancé was in danger of the Thalmor. By an amazing stroke of luck he was surrounded by people who were listening to his story of events the on the road. Using "Wire-Tap" so I could hear what he and the crowd were saying, I then went in to what I'm beginning to think of as Will of Talos mode.

"- and so just as he takes off, his final words are Talos Protects, and then -"

 _"Indeed Talos protects, young lover of Serene."_

As expected, a lot of the crowd began to look around wondering at who was pulling the voice trick or if it was an act. I ignored them and focused on the young man.

"I-I-It's you! Where are you?!"

 _"I am wherever the Will of Talos wishes me to be. And the will of Talos is to protect and shelter those in need."_

By now there was a mixed bag of reactions from the crowd. Some of them were unimpressed by the "magical hocus-pocus" but I could tell I had gotten the attention of the Talos worshippers.

"What is it you wish of me."

 _"To simply heed this warning. The Thalmor are here."_

At revelation a number of people looked like they already wanted to leave town, but the young mans eye'd widened in shock and understanding.

"no..."

 _"Yes. They come for your betrothed. But it is not to late. They head to the Temple of Mara as we speak. Gather those you can and go to her side, for I fear they may spirit her away into the night like the black shadows they are."_

"Oh divines..."

 _"Go, run, now!"_

Dropping Throw Voice, I then kicked up the dramatics a bit and let loose a loud roar while still hidden in the clouds.

Flying back into town through the cloud cover, I discovered the Thalmor had already reached and were standing outside the temple. Setting into a slow circle of the place, it wasn't long until the young man showed up at the head of a mob of people. At the same time, a group of Thalmor exited the temple with Serene bound and gagged between them, and a priestess yelling at the Thalmor that "They couldn't do this". With the arrival of the mob, the young man yelled something to the likes of "What do you want with her!?", to which one of the "Thalmor replied with;

"We merely wish to question this girl about a supposed "Miracle" performed by the so called "god", Talos."

Yeah. And I'm the son of Alduin. These bastards probably wanted to stick her in a shallow grave or something, and make the story go away. I was hoping that a large crowd, being in the center of an important military town and the headquarters of an Imperial garrison would make the Thalmor less likely to try anything, but apparently they had other plans. One of the other Thalmor moves over and whispered something in the leaders ear. The leader then returned his attention to the young man.

"You are Byjorn Whisp-Frost of Windhelm are you not? This girl is your fiancé, correct?"

"Yes, that is my name, but I believe that matters little right now. Now unhand my Serene you pointy-eared bastards!"

The head Thalmor just sniffed contemptuously.

"Actually it matters quite a bit. Guards! Capture him! Take anybody who tries to protect him!"

So much for dealing with things in a non-violent manner. I was trying to figure out a way to fix the situation when out of no where, Byjorn pulls out a crappy little dagger and fucking charges the Thalmor.

"You won't take Serene from me! TALOS PROTECTS!"

What the hell do you guys think I did?

I announced my arrival which is probably going to become part of the "White Dragon of Talos" legends, by diving out of the heart of a thunderstorm that appeared from nowhere, while surrounded by lightning and roaring. By the time people realized what had happened, I was standing In front of Byjorn, on top of the crushed and lightning struck bodies of the Thalmor soldiers who had been advancing on him and had been unfortunate enough to be my landing pad.

 **"TALOS PROTECTS. AND I AM THE INSTRUMENT OF HIS WILL!"**

The was a shocked silence before the one of the Thalmor to the side began to babble, panic and point at me.

"Se-See I told you all! But none of you listened! NONE OF YOU!"

Looking closer, I realized it was the head Thalmor from the group I had slaughtered at the town. Apparently having almost your entire force wiped out and then coming back saying "A dragon did it" is grounds for a demotion. The current leader ignored him.

"Arches! Mages! Open fire!"

Turning my body to protect the people behind me, I was pretty damn thankful for my draconic hide and the shout I had come up with to heal myself. None of their spells and arrows caused major damage or penetrated very deep, despite the scorch marks and the amount of smoke, fire and lightning thrown up in the exchange. There were definitely more mages in this group than the last. When one of the Thalmor came out with "There is no way something could have survived that many fire spells", I knew it was time to up the intimidation factor. Letting the smoke clear, I begun to chuckle darkly.  
 _  
_ _ **"Poor, foolish Mer. Poor, poor, foolish Mer. To even think you could harm me. Haas Sien Gron."**_

There was a shocked silence as everyone in the street watched burned or damaged scales slough off as the flesh underneath rippled and melded over the wounds only to be covered by rapidly growing replacement scales. Just before the end of the process, the Thalmor leader came to his wits.

"Attack!"

Or not.  
 _  
_ _ **"YOU CAN NOT STAND AGAINST THE WILL OF TALOS LITTLE MER!"**_ _  
_  
I'd like to say this was some sort of epic battle or even a curbstomp, but really I was handicapped by the fact that there was a crowd of people and guards further down the street behind me. It wouldn't do good to my "Will of Talos" image if I let them get hurt, so I spent most of what was a short battle anyway, acting like a damage sponge and shield as I slowly advanced towards the Thalmor, trying to take out as many of them as possible, while trying not to cause too much property damage.

As I focused on the main force, Byjorn had snuck around and for some reason got it into his head that he could take on the head Thalmor and his two lackeys that were trying to make off with Serene, all while using only his crappy dagger. I ended up catching a couple of fireballs and ice spikes to the face when I had to save Byjorn from being gutted. I Unrelenting Force'd one of the lackeys into a stone wall hard enough to break through it and then bit the head Thalmor clean in half. By sheer luck Byjorn managed to stab the other Thalmor in the neck when he was blinded by the spray of blood from his leader.

With Serene safe, I continued down the street using only frost breath, Unrelenting Force and physical attacks to kill Thalmor in order to avoid setting the town on fire. At this point the ex-head Thalmor yelled out what must have been the Elvish equivalent of "Fuck this shit!" and turned tail and ran. The rest of them followed, so it might have also been a retreat order.

After the Thalmor were gone, and with the rain from Storm Call putting out any fires, I kind of just sat there for a moment catching a breather. As I healed my injuries, people slowly walked down the ruined and damaged street before crowding together a good distance away. Getting up and preparing to take flight and leave, I heard one of the imperial guards utter in a stunned voice;

"Divines it's true. The White Dragon of Talos... but then that means Talos is actually..."

I looked over at him and then replied back;

 **"Some of you may have forgotten Talos. But Talos has not forgotten you."**

Some movement in the crowd caught my attention and I turned to to Serene and Byjorn come forth. It may have been the rain, but I think she was crying for some reason.

"I...I can't thank you enough for all you have done."

It occurred to me just then that I had never actually heard her speak before. I decided to return back to my "gentler" Ron Perlman with gravel voice.

 **"Faith in him is thanks enough for Talos. And if I may, I would recommend returning to Windhelm, or any Hold that does not welcome the Thalmor."**

She nodded then looked up at me and held her hand to the amulet on her chest.

"Talos Protects."

 **"Indeed he does. Talos Protects."**

Spreading my wings, I launched my self into the air, roaring and proclaiming my presence to the world as I spiral upwards through the rain and into the thunderheads. Once hidden in the clouds, I turned east and headed for the mountains across the river. The rate things are going, I'm going to end up like that story of the thief who stole a paladins armor, tried to impersonate a paladin, and by the end of the story, became a full fledged heroic paladin.

Now I have to decide what my next destination is. Meet the dragonborn at the tomb of Jurgen Windcaller, try and met the dragonborn in Whiterun if they pass through there on the way to pick up the horn, or forget the dragonborn for now and head for the Throat of the World and Paarthurnax.

Decisions, decisions.

 **Journal Entry #13 Lost in the Swamps**

Yeahhhhhh, I have no idea where the hell I am again.

What I wouldn't give for a map right now. Or a clairvoyance spell. Maybe I could invent a shout version? Since I entered these swamps, there hasn't been much else to do aside from travel, meditate, train shouts and experiment in creating new ones. It's like this swamp goes on and on forever. At least on the road to Dragonsbridge there was some variation. Watch the birds, admire the changing landscape, avoid people, impersonate the Will of Talos, deal with psychological repercussions of being turned into a god damn dragon.

I took me a week to pass over the mountains southwest of the swamps and I've now been traveling through this swamp for more than three. I reckon I passed that standing stone around the halfway through the second week, but then a storm rolled in from the northwest and completely knocked me off my bearings. I couldn't see the sun or stars no matter how high I flew for three days and by the time it cleared up, I had no idea how far off course I've been blown.

About the one good thing to come out of this is that I have been able to focus on meditations and keeping in contact with my humanity. When the storm got bad enough, I simply curled up in a grove of trees and almost went into some sort of trance. I kept on trying to get back to that state for a few days, but the weather lightened up and I decided to continue onwards.

I also tried to make good on my promise to learn more "healing" shouts. For broken bones I have "Qeth Nol Aak" - Bone Form Guide, and for dealing with blood loss I now have "Sos Kopraan Whal"- Blood Body Create. Both of these were tricky to create, but I managed to cheat a bit using my human knowledge and understanding of the body and Biology.

Rather than "forcing" the healing process "Queth Nol Aak" is actually a process of speeding up and guiding the growth of bone in the direction or manner wanted. "Bone" makes the targeted bone/s the focus of the "shout" and malleable. "Form" commands the bone to generate and grow new material and bone matter. Ironically, if I use something like "command" or any sort of word that requires direct control over the path of growth, the shout can end up killing the target. Eventually I figured out that my knowledge of how bones grow and are structured isn't quite up to par with what is demanded for this shout, especially for non-humans. Watching a wolf's rib cage explode because when you are trying to stimulate bone growth, you are thinking of a human rib-cage is pretty fucking disturbing. Eventually I discovered the the answer was to let nature take it's course. Only sped up and with a little bit of guidance. That's where "Guide" comes in. I just let the body do faster version of what it would usually do, with the added input that I can stop or alter parts of the growth that either won't heal right or could cause problems in future.

Even more ironically, despite developing this shout for healing purposes, it actually makes for pretty god damn visceral attack. If I ever want to kill someone by having their own bones rapidly grow, pierce their organs and then burst from their flesh in showers of gore, leaving them as human pincushions of flesh and bone, this is all I'd need.

"Sos Kopraan Whal" also took a while to create and figure out an understanding for that would allow it to work. I have "Blood" in there for obvious reasons (control and and focus). "Body" was interesting choice but a good one. Originally I was thinking it would only allow me to replicate individual parts of the blood, meaning I would have to to cast this shout multiple times to "fill" someone up, but by changing and altering the particular use or understanding of "Body" I was using, I am now able to use it to select bodies of liquid, in this case all of the little important bits in the blood aside from red blood cells like white-blood cells and platelets. It wouldn't do for me to heal somebody only for them to die of infection of temporary hemophilia. Finally using create allows me to spimply "copy" what I have "selected.

While connecting with and meditating on my human-ness, I inadvertently created a third shout. I was focusing on a number of emotions I've noticed I do not feel very greatly as a dragon and by chance spoke their names in dragon tongue. "Faas Maar Vol" - Fear Terror Horror. For a few seconds there was only a terrible quietness before the surrounding swamp burst into chaos. In the distance wolves howled and fled with their tales between their legs, the Elk they were stalking bolted for the hills frothing at the mouth, mud crabs began to burrow into the ground for all they were worth, slaughter fish were throwing themselves out of the water in an effort it get away, a couple of frost spiders keeled over, and dragonflies and butterflies actually died before they hit the ground.

There were three things I discovered from this.  
1)A new shout.  
2)Using a shout while in deep meditation on it boosts the effects to a ridiculously powerful level  
3) I just created the fucking shout equivalent of Scarcrow's fear gas. In a normal situation it will never be this effective but _Holy Shit_

Meditations and shouts aside, I still don't know how far off course I've been blown, but I'm hoping if I keep heading east I'll exit the swamp.

 **Journal Entry #14 Battle Over Morthal**

Ouch. Just ouch. I am so glad I came up with those blood replenishing and bone mending shout to back up the flesh heal one.

Right, good news and bad news. The good news in I found a town, Morthal in fact. The bad news in that it was under attack by a dragon. The good news is I managed to save (most of) Morthal. The bad news is that the dragon got away. The good news is that he's seriously wounded so I can just hunt him down. The bad news is I was mauled by a god damn dragon so I can't hunt him down just yet.

It started when I finally saw something other than swamp on the horizon. To the south I could see mountains, so I decided to head that way to see if I could make out any landmarks I would recognize. As I got closer to the mountains though, I began to see the glow of fire and something circling in the air. A blood dragon was strafing across the town north of the river. In game there was just a small lumber mill, but here it was an entire lumber yard and processing yard. Thankfully the bastard didn't notice me but by the time I was in range, he was preparing to go on a strafing run straight for the center of Morthal and the Jarl's long house.

Wrath of an angry god style; Diving dragon from the heavens!

I probably should have nailed him with dragonrend first but I guess it's my fault for getting into the habit of diving out of thunderstorms whenever anything happens. He only had a moment of look up at the thunderstorm I'd summoned before I tackled him out of the air from behind. I clawed and bit at him while using fire-breath as we fell, his own fire-breath arcing wildly through the air as he struggled to re-orientate himself. Our fall was broken by the bridge that connected Morthal to the lumber yards, both of us going straight through the old stone and mortar structure thanks to me practically pile driver-ing him out of the sky.

Hauling myself out of the river onto the remains of the south side of the bridge, I heard one of the town guards moan in horror, "Dear god there's another one" and to which different guard replied, "Good, maybe they'll kill each other first!".

An eruption of steam and fire was the first sign my foe gave as he launched himself out of the water. Ducking and weaving to avoid the lightning of the Storm Call I'd summoned at the beginning of the fight, I used his distraction to join him in the air in order to not lose air superiority. A blast of flame breath from him was met by a stream of frost from me, yielding another explosion of steam. For the next minute or two were made up of continuous chicken-runs, jinking, rolling, diving and trying to out maneuver one another in the air. He was faster and more agile than me, making it near impossible to hit him with dragonrend and when ever I did have a clear shot, he would block with a shout. He didn't seem to know what it actually was though.

Eventually some townsfolk had to get caught in the cross fire. At one point some guards started to shoot arrows at us when ever we were near the ground. Taking a risk, I then began to try and force him to the ground or hit him with dragonrend thinking he'd see me as the greater threat despite how much of a distraction they were. I was wrong. He turned to the guards and launched fire-breath at them, which I only just stopped from killing the guards by intercepting it with frost-breath before it hit them.

After seeing this the dragon eyed me and spat viciously in dragon tongue;

 **"You! You are one of Paarthurnax's followers! Alduin refused to resurrect any of them and the sad old fool does not know the Thu'um! Who are you!"**

A plan sprung to mind on how to finally nail him with dragonrend. I needed to surprise or distract him long enough to get hit and this was the perfect opportunity.

 _ **"WHO AM I? I AM THE INSTRUMENT OF MY LORD. HIS SWORD AND SHIELD ON THIS BASE NIRN! I AM JULDOVASIL! THE WILL OF TAL-"**_

Of course it kind of back fired as he roared in an almost berserker manner and charged me upon hearing my name.

 **"Kin-Traitor!"  
**  
 _'...shit'_ _ **"Mortal Finite Tempoary!"**_

In a ironic reversal of the opening moments of the fight, I was the one tackled to the ground by a raging dragon. During our decent however, the bastard managed to bite and shred open my wing. Our landing took us through the roof and side of a house before we both spilled into the shallows of the river near the water mill. While in pain from the shredded wing, I knew I could heal it so I wasn't to bad off. My opponent however was not dealing well with the direction this fight had taken.

 **"What is this? What have you done Kin-Traitor?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?"**

Apparently dova don't like mortality.

Deciding to take advantage of his cofusion and and fear, I used the "Fear" shout on him. Sadly I forgot that different people/things react to fear differently. There was no other way to describe his reaction than "freaking the fuck out". He charged me as I prepared to use fire breath and bit me in the shoulder of the wing he already injured.

 **"WHAT IS THIS!? WHAT IS THIS!? WHAT IS THIS!?"**

Releasing my fire-breath into his underside, chest and wing, I cast dragonrend on him again before striking at his neck when he reeled back in pain and terror. Shaking viciously, I tore out a chunk of flesh from his throat, receiving a blast of fire to the face in return. Partially blinded by the flames, I tried to go for his neck again.

 **"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME KIN-TRAITOR?!"**

With my jaws at his throat again, he clawed out one of my eyes and then breathed fire across my back, followed up by pushing me away and tail-whipping my face. I was staggered and stunned for a moment before chomping down on his tail just forwards of the paddle-like "fluke" blood dragons have and using a combination of frost-breath while I was biting down and brute force to rip off the end of his tail.

 **"ARRGGHHHH, I'LL END YOU KIN-TRAITOR! I WILL KILL YOU TO DEATH!"**

Spinning back around, he went for my neck but I ducted down, dodging a neck crushing bite, but losing a horn in the process. Circling each other and snapping our jaws at one another like fighting dogs, we both charged. He mauled my shoulder again as I bit down and ripped off the sail of flesh that blood dragons have on their backs. As he pulled back in pain and to perform a shout, I hit him once more with dragonrend before charging and using a combination of Unrelenting Force and my body to shoulder-check him through the water-mill.

By this point in time I was exhausted. In none of my previous battles had I been so heavily injured and not had the time to heal. Fighting dragons was on another level entirely from anything else I'd yet faced. In game you have to kill more than twenty dragons to unlock all the shouts. I was getting my ass handed to me in the dragon equivalent of a bare knuckle brawl.

By the time I had hauled myself through the wreckage of the water mill, he had escaped into the swamps north of Morthal. I tried following him which was actually rather easy. He was leaking enough blood that even the frost-bite spiders are following the trail.

That was three hours ago. I decided that weakening myself even further trying to track him while injured would not do me any good. He was wounded just as heavily as me and unless he has any "healing" shouts he shouldn't be able to get away. As soon as I finish writing this I'm going to head out into the swamp and hunt that bastard down.

His ass is grass and his soul is mine!

 **Journal Entry #15 The Ashes of Victory.**

The bastard is dead, but after returning to Morthal, my victory over him leaves only a taste like ash and dust in my mouth.

His name was Lokjotrahgol. Sky Maw Rage seems pretty fitting considering what happened during our first battle. Our second was nowhere near as dramatic. In a way, it was a sad end for a being as mighty and proud as a dova.

After healing the most demanding, taxing and deliberating of my injuries, I took to the sky and followed the trail of blood he'd left. There was no final exchange of words or desperate battle. Instead I found him too weak to even fight off the wolves that circled in preparation of his death. As I approached he tried to use fire-breath but it failed to even heat my scales. He glared at me in a manner that transmitted hate even clearer or more powerful than any shout could have replicated.

He was an ageless near-divine being that ruled from the skies and was supposed to fell hundreds, if not thousands before falling in the heat of battle in such a way that stories would be told for generations of his death. And here I was, about to ignobly kill him while he was at his weakest, in the middle of some god forsaken swamp where his bones would lie broken and probably forgotten as the mud claimed them.

 **"Kin...Traitor...curse...I...curse...you...kin...traitor..."**

 _ **"Mortal Finite Tempoary."**_

And like that he was dead. His body was so badly wounded, he died almost the instant he became mortal. It was more sad than triumphant really. A few moments after he died, his body began to crumble and burn. From the flames his soul was drawn into me and consumed. Almost as soon as I had consumed him, I was bombarded by splintered fragments of knowledge and memories. I have yet to examine them or see how my powers have been effected as immediately after, I turned and flew back to Morthal.

If you guys thought the in game Morthal felt like a sorry place to be, it has nothing on what Morthal looks like now. Circling above the town before descending, it became pretty obvious how much damage the town had taken. Practically everything north of the town was either burned or destroyed, either by Lokjotrahgol before I arrived or in the case of the lumber yard and mill, during our battle on the ground. The stone bridge that crossed the river though the north of the town was rent in two. The crumbling and broken stones at the bottom of the river that once made up the middle of the bridge were testament to how fast we were going when I tackled Lokjotrahgol out of the sky.

The worst damage in humanitarian terms was in the central part of Morthal and around the Jarl's Hall. Many of the buildings had been damaged by frost, burned by fire or crushed by Unrelenting Force. All of this from shouts that had simply missed. The Divines must have been looking out for these poor people since rather than dissipating, the thunder storm from Storm Call had stuck around and become a continuos light shower, stopping most fires before they spread or completely burned down buildings. The only area of Morthal that was undamaged was the western section along the shores of the swamp. The Jarl's Hall and the road outside it were now occupied by the injured and newly made homeless. What was obviously a number of dead bodies under sheets lay nearby.

Feeling too depressed and guilty about how much of this could have potentially been my fault, I descended to the town. As I spiraled down, many of the people looked ready to bolt for cover again and a number of guards drew their bows and knocked arrows. At the front of the crowed however was Idgrod Ravencrone, the Jarl. Slowly she walked forwards despite the warnings of her guards. I landed in front of her and nodded solemly.

"You killed that dragon. And now you seek to aid us with our wounded, correct?"

I was monetarily surprised by this and her nature towards me before I remembered she was supposed to be some sort of seer gifted with visions from the divines.

 **"That is indeed correct. I had hoped to avoid the loss of lives while defeating the dragon, but I fear I may have not only failed but added to the dead."**

Ravencrone shook her head. "Without you I fear Morthal would have seen it's end. Many more would have perished without your help."

I looked around the town mournfully at the destruction. In game Morthal had been struggling for a number of years and the lumber mill was it's main source of income. With it's loss, the number of injured or dead and the damage to the town itself, Morthal's continued survival was questionable.

 **"At least there will still be those who will remember and speak of Morthal."**

Ravencrone smiled sadly and looked away.

"Many years ago when I first became Jarl I had a vision from one of the Divines. Two great beasts would fight and decide the fate of Morthal's existence. The town would be destroyed but out of the ashes, a new one would arise thanks to the tale of the two beasts' battle. This is merely the end of the latest chapter of Morthal. The people will rebuild and hopefully under my daughters hand a new one will be written."

 **"How can you be so sure?"**

"Because you are here Servant of Talos. Now come, there are people who could benefit from your aid".

After following here back down the road, I spent the rest of the night healing people. I can now understand why some doctors refuse to work in burns wards. If it wasn't for the fact that I hadn't eaten in days, I probably would have blown chunks while healing some of the injuries those people had.

Hah, look at me, I can eviscerate and roast Thalmor and bandits like steaks, but I can't deal with this properly. I ended up going into a sort of auto-pilot. So many injured people and the fact that unlike the few mages, priests or potion makers , I didn't run out of mana or ingredients, meant that eventually I was used as the "serious injury" station. After a while I ended up putting on a more solemn version of the Will of Talos act just as part of my way of blanking through it.

After a while, the number of injured being found or needing urgent treatment trickled off so I took a break. While wandering through the ruins, I found in the basement of the house Lokjotrahgol and I crashed through a shrine of Talos and prayer book of Talos. I bundled them up in a bed sheet and then carried them back to the triage area. When the wounded finally stopped coming in, I tried reading the prayer book for the guy I've been pretending to work for. Of course I was too big to properly read the thing so I ended up falling asleep in front of the Shrine trying to meditate and focus on something other than burns victims, crushed limbs and the faces of people who's livelihood has literally gone up in smoke.

When I woke up the next day and inspected myself in the river I looked like shit. While internally my wounds are all healed, externally I look like how I feel. Burned scales, blood marks and stains, mud splattered, broken or cracked spikes and armor.

That day saw the cremations. Settled on the boundary between mountains and swamp, level ground was a luxury few residents of Morthal could afford in death. Some would be lucky to have plots reserved, but most of the bodies would have to be burned to avoid disease unless their next of kin could provide alternate means of looking after the body.

I don't really remember how but at some point I decided to or was convinced to help the priests with the burial rites. I regret not looking into the religious rites and prayer's of Talos earlier. All I had were a few generic ones I had heard from multiple sects, a few I'd heard from Talos worshippers around the town I fought the Thalmor in and two or three I managed to learn the previous night. I ended up saying them all in the dragon tongue in order to hide how utterly incompetent I was, as the bodies were cremated.

I'd had enough of it after that. I used the excuse that Talos' Will required me to move on soon. I took the book with me but had to leave behind the shrine. I didn't even bother paying attention to where I was going, I just wanted to get out of there. The skies around Morthal were heavy with the scent and taste of burned flesh and ash.

I'm tired of this. I've been too lax in what I'm doing. I've been fumbling blindly without any real plan aside from finding the dragonborn and not dying. I've potentially increased the danger of the Thalmor. I've been saying I'm the Will of Talos with no idea what the hell Talos would actuallIy want. I should have been able to save more of Morthal.

 **Journal Entry #16 A Place of Zen**

Since the almighty cluster-fuck that was Morthal, I've spent the last three weeks on the peak of a mountain in the Sky-born Ranges southeast of Morthal. If there was one thing I've taken away from this experience, it's that it is not the damn elves I have to watch out for.

I needed to focus and deal with what had happened first, so most of the first week isn't much more than me turning into an dragon shaped popsicle while I retreated into probably my deepest meditation trance yet. Once I had my thoughts and mind under control, it was time to deal with the soul. To say I completely absorbed Lokjotrahgol into myself isn't true, but at the same time I can access a part of him. It's sort of like having a library and all that's happened is I've added in a few new sections containing what made up Lokjotrahgol.

Absorbing him actually hasn't given me that much of a noticeable power boost. It think the main thing about absorbing dragon souls is about gaining more understanding and ideas for various words. For instance, before absorbing Lokjotrahgol's soul the shout "Aura Whisper" (Life Seek Hunt) wouldn't work for me properly or would simply be underpowered. This is because I thought the way it worked was seeking out the reactions processes of a body the give it life. Lokjotrahgol's understanding of the use of "Life" in this shout is that it tracks the energies of the living soul within something. The whole difference in our points of veiw for this one word completely changed the effectiveness of the shout. I was doing the equivalent of having to search for glowflies in everything, only to be distracted by the sheer amount of living organisms and bacteria, while his allowed him to look and see beacons of light emanating for within anything with a soul. The more powerful the soul, the more it stood out.

A variety of other shouts now work for me as well, using Lokjotrahgol's understandings and concepts where mine fail. Ironically, while I can now use Drain Vaitality, the three "healing" shouts I created are in their own ways more effective. They capable of being used on other beings, are capable of being used to heal more dangerous and life threatening wounds, and don't require the draining of the life force and energies of another creature. At least if I ever end up exhausted in another fight like with Lokjotrahgol, I can drain my enemies in order to re-strengthen and energize myself.

After unfucking my mind, the meditation-marathon and learning the effects of absorbing Lokjotrahgol into myself, the a lot of the next two weeks was divided up into more meditation, shout experimentation and a lot of studying the prayer book of Talos I brought with me.

With everything I've been doing, I'm not sure if I'd be able to shake the "White Dragon of Talos" thing now. I'm rather unique looking and I just know the legend will keep spreading. Even if I wanted to hide out on a mountain top like Paarthurnax, I couldn't in good conscience do so. My appearances will probably have both earned the ire of the Thalmor and started a slow resurgence in Talos worshippers, who are going to pray for the Will of their god to help them when the Thalmor start coming down hard. I don't want to end up in another situation where I'm speaking in another language to disguise how little I know. If I'm going to impersonate and act like the will of Talos, I want to damn well, do so properly and know what I'm supposed to do.

I have also been trying to create a number of new shouts, particularly those I can use to help lessen collateral damage when ever I get into something as big as a dragon fight or fire-bolt happy Thalmor. "Golz Kopraan Whalaan" - Stone Body Raise, Causes walls or pillars of rock and stone to erupt from the ground or be drawn from and sources nearby, like boulders and walls, in order to create a thick physical wall-like barrier. This one is good due to being rather multipurpose. I can use to defend bystanders or allies, create a shield behind or under which I can hide or heal, and it can be used to impale the enemy from below with a field of stone spikes.

"Feykro Kod Mulaag" - Forest Wield Strength. This new shout allows me to control, alter and grow any plant life in an area and reinforce them. If I can use Dragonrend on a dragon and they land nearby even so much as an acorn, I can rapidly grow the thing into a tree and control it's growth to bind the dragon. I was originally hoping I'd be able to use other kinds of plants as well, but even with the buff from "Mulaag", they aren't strong enough to hold a dragon. I tested it out on myself and once the shout ran out, the deformities in the trees from making them bend and rapidly grow meant that I easily broke out of the bonds I'd made them grow. It's still good only weaker beings though. I trapped a frost troll inside a tree earlier and managed to crush a saber cat to death using only mountain grasses.

In Morthal, one of the biggest causes of damage to the town and the main way in which Lokjotrahgol and I attacked before arriving on the ground was by using breath weapons. It took me a while to figure out something that would work, but while meditating on things I enjoyed as I human, I found some inspiration. "Wuld Spaan Dwiin - Whirlwind Shield Steel. While it doesn't work very well against physical attacks, It will stop almost all shouts and, I'm hoping, some magical attacks as well. It works by surrounding the target in a spiraling half sphere of wind, spinning at a rapid speed in order to deflect or cut apart anything that tries to pass through it. While it was inspired a personal range defensive/attack in a anime and manga, the shout version I came up with is use able on allies at range. The use of "Steel" allows it to have both cutting power, strength and not react with other shouts or magic. Only if I wish it to, will this thing become capable of being a air fuel bomb.

In a continuing trend of irony, this shout has offensive as well as defensive capabilities. I can trap stuff in this thing and if it tries to leave, instant blender-ization if it tries to rush through the wall. Changing my concept of how "Steel" works in this shout, allows it to still have cutting power but elemental attacks or shouts can effect it or be used in conjunction I used fire-breath on a "reactive" version of this and it turned into a giant swirling ball of fire. Because of the cutting ability the shield has, if I use it on myself in mid-air, it forms a complete sphere around my and causes me to become a flying ball of disintegration and pain.

My full list of shouts is now basically all of the in game ones the Dragonborn can learn aside from Call Dragon, Call of Valor, and Summon Durnehviir. My list of self made shouts is now;

SpaceBattles Contact - "Lok Grah Flik" - Sky Battle Mirror  
Dragon Flight - "Krif Viing Bo" - Flight Wing Fly  
Flesh Heal - "Haas Sien Gron" - Health Flesh Bind  
Earthquake - "Gol Kren Motaad" - Earth Break Shudder  
Wire-tap - "Hon Zul Morah"- Hear Voice Focus  
Bone Mend - "Qeth Nol Aak" - Bone Form Guide  
Blood Replenish - "Sos Kopraan Whal"- Blood Body Create  
Soul-felt Fear - "Faas Maar Vol" - Fear Terror Horror  
Stone Raise - "Golz Kopraan Whalaan" - Stone Body Raise  
Nature Control - "Feykro Kod Mulaag" - Forest Wield Strength  
Whirlwind Shield - "Wuld Spaan Dwiin - Whirlwind Shield Steel

My current plan is to head into the Whiterun Valley and find the dragonborn, or become well known enough there by wiping out the local bandit populations that the dragonborn will want to find me when they hopefully pass through Whiterun Valley on the way to pick up the horn. I don't even know where Jurgen's tomb is in the swamp so flying around for months being lost isn't going to do anyone any good.

It's time to bring the Will of Talos to Whiterun.

 **Journal Entry #17 A Liar and a Priest**

You people will not believe who I met and what happened today.

Most of the past four weeks have been very busy flying back and forth across the Sky-born ranges killing bandits and other kinds of menace and putting the fear of Talos into the survivors. In total I've wiped out five different large bandit camps, burned down a barrow of draugr, dropped a mammoth on top of a hag-raven and killed a necromancer by first turning the disused graveyard he was in, into a field of spikes. For added flair I then used Nature Control to crush his corpse and the bones of the skeletons he was trying to raise, sealing them in the cores of trees I caused to sprout and fill up the graveyard.

It sounds like a lot but really I spent most of the time meandering pointlessly through the mountains looking for bandits. I ran into the draugr when I tried to force my way into and sleep in a barrow during a blizzard and the hag-raven was camped outside this random blood stained shack in the middle of nowhere. The necromancer was in the process of raising the graveyard of a long abandoned village when the light being given off from his ritual caught my eye. The problem was, none of these incidents had any witnesses a said from the survivors, most of whom were scum of the earth types. I needed to be seen doing something good or non-evil.

Having gotten tired of Destroying bandit camps and numerous bandit shelters and ambushes along the road, I had decided it was time I moved down into Whiterun Valley proper. I probably could have been most of the way to Whiterun already, if I hadn't been eliminating bandits.

As I flew to the southwest, I noticed a road weaving through the valley below me with a crossroads and sign post up head. As there was nobody around and wanting to see where I am, I landed before it in order to read the directions. The north road led to Morthal, the east road eventually led to Dragonsbridge, the south one went down into Whiterun Valley and Roarikstead while the west road led to Whiterun.

I couldn't decide where to go. On the one hand I had spent more than enough time screwing around killing bandits. The dragonborn had probably left High Hrothgar by this time and I was cutting it close for meeting them in Whiterun. On the otherhand, going down into the valley and being seen helping people would probably help continue my reputation as the "Will of Talos" and earn me more brownie points with the dragonborn. I was in the middle of this conundrum when, despite the fact there had been nobody around when I landed, a voice spoke up beside me.

"M'aiq never liked quests that have a time limit. It's much nicer when end of the world waits for you so you can go pick calipers."

I literally tripped over my own feet from turning around and backing up so fast. Everybody's favorite Kahjit and favorite source of in-jokes, M'aiq the Liar had some how snuck up and was standing right next to me. I could only hold my jaw open and gape wondering how he had gotten near me.

"M'aiq is sorry but he has no eggs of chocolate for you today."

What the hell? What the hell was going on? He didn't seem to care he was talking to a giant white dragon!

"M'aiq suggests you take the scenic route. M'aiq has heard that one is more dramatic."

This caught my attention

 **"Uhhh, I'm sorry, what was that"**

"To hear M'aiq say the same thing twice you must often listen to everything M'aiq has to say."

I could only glare as the stupid oversized cat grinned at me.

"M'aiq hears many things on his travels. Why just recently M'aiq heard from M'aiq's friend from Kvatch, who heard from a older friend of M'aiq's that M'aiq should take the south road and watch since M'aiq does not fear dying. M'aiq still thinks it hurts though."

 **"So wait, what are you saying?"**

The little troll just grinned and said;

"M'aiq saw a mud crab the other day. Horrible creatures."

Before I could ask or say anything else, he immediately turned tail and ran. I tried to catch up with him from the air but _he managed out run me while I was flying._

I had no idea what that was about but I did know one thing. There was something going on to the south. Giving up on chasing M'aiq, I turned around and began to follow the road south.

For many kilometers I saw nothing of interest as the valleys sides slowly became steeper and glacial, the mountains smaller yet more rugged, the sparse mountain brush gave way to forests and the snow line rose. I was obviously entering the southern foothills of the Sky-born ranges and would probably see the Whiterun Valley soon. I was beginning to think I'd been made a fool of when I noticed a scent on the wind I was now familiar with.

Spilled blood, burned flesh and ash.

Pouring on the speed, I soon saw my target on the horizon. An over-turned burning cart, a number of people standing around and more people kneeling or on the ground. Using my "Wire-tap" shout, I was able to hear what was going on as I approached at top speed. They seemed to be travelers who had been trying to flee these bandits. One of them was a priest of some sort as I could hear him rapidly progressing through prayers to all the different divines. Off to the side, a woman screamed as two of the bandits carried her off into the bush. A pair of children called out for their mother, as another man begged them to at least let his wife go. Near the cart, a circle of bandits were beating another man to death. A final group were patting down and searching their captives for valuables.

One of the bandits then dragged the priest into the middle of the road and drew his sword as the priest continued praying.

"I don't think the gods are listening today, especially to a pointy eared bastard like you."

Then it happened. Just before I finally got in range and used Storm Call, the priest began to run through a section of the prayers of the divines that normally would not have been included in this day and age. A prayer for protection and guidance from Talos. The end result was;

"Praise Talos. First of the Septims and proctor of the empire. May his shield guard our souls and his hands give us guidance in our times of need. In times of hardship he shall be our torch amongst the dark and our harbor in the storm. For in him we place our faith, and he shall watch over us as his own."

"That's a pretty speech priest, but Talos won't save you now."

 _ **"STRUN BAH QO!"**_

Roaring while flying down at high speed, I landed with enough force to shake the ground before unleashing a pillar of fire at a pair of bandits, reducing them to ash in seconds.

 _ **"TALOS HEARS YOUR CRIES AND ASWERS THEM! FOR I AM THE INSTRUMENT OF HIS WILL!"**_

The annoying thing about bandits is that most of them usually run at the beginning, make it that much harder to hunt down them down once you kill the rest later. Amongst those who decided to stay and fight, were the magic user and some archers.

Testing out my kaiten- I mean Whirlwind Shield, it easily chewed the arrows into shredded wood before taking the full strength of the fireball and letting dissipate across the spiraling surface to the shield. A lucky casualty of the shield was an Orc swordsman who was charging full-tilt at me when I used it. The instant he passed into the swirling winds of the shields surface, he was rent apart and blended into green chunky-salsa.

The commotion drew the attention of the two who had dragged off the woman, one of whom still had his pants around his ankles. I sure as hell wasn't going to put those assholes in my mouth, so I used Soul Tear on them before finishing them off with Marked For Death. I didn't plan on entrapping their souls in anything, but the raise zombie effect meant that a few moments after I turned my attention away, they stopped writhing on the ground in pain, pulled up their pants, and then drew their swords and started stabbing other bandits in the back.

Using Nature control, I manipulated the trees and bushes growing alongside the road to pick them up and restrain in the air the bandits who had been crowded around the man and beating him to death. Two uses of the variations of Stone Raise saw them all speared to death with barbs of stone that burst from the ground, while a thick wall of rock and earth rose up behind the group who had been searching captives between them and their prisoners. Trapped between some rocks and a dragon, fire-breath soon made short work of them.

The bandit leader who had been about to execute the priest had taken off almost the instant I arrived, along with some of the other bandits. As much as I wanted to charge off into the woods and hunt them down, these people I had saved came first. Starting with the barely alive victim of the bandit beat down, I moved amongst the people, healing them and commanding my two temporary thralls to free them.

As I prepared to take off and chase the bandits who fled, I had a chance to look upon the face of the stunned priest who's prayers I had "answered".

He was a high elf.

How's that for irony! Especially when after hunting down the bandits later, I realized the head guy was a human. In desperation an elf prayed to Talos, and was saved. Ha!

As the people gathered to watch me take flight, I looked the priest straight in the eye and said.

 **"Talos protects."**

 **Journal Entry #18 Giant Enemy Mud Crab**

Arrgghhh! Somebody up there must hate me. Or I really am becoming closer to Talos and he has a ridiculous sense humor and/or is taking lessons from M'aiq or Sheogorath in trolling me.

I had almost forgtten how useful hands could be (thanks for nothing draconic soul) but after simply having two zombie thralls untie a bunch of people? Holy shit, why did I not try to make a shout based around this sooner! Then again, considering what I ended up with, using my current knowledge, who knows what might have happened. Or as I said, this could be a side effect of impersonating Talos's Will so many times.

After the saving of the priest I'd been traveling southeast and once I was over the edge of the plains, I turned directly east so that I could hide out in the woods and foothills whenever I require sleep. In game, most of the Whiterun Valley is tundra or open plains, but I think that was another case of game constraints. Here it's only really like the games in the undeveloped land before the foothills of the mountains. The majority of this place is farmlands to the horizon. I can see why this place was so valuable in the civil war. Not only does it provide access into almost all of the other Holds in Skyrim, but as long as you held the farmlands, it would be near impossible to starve out a military force holding the boarders of Whiterun.

After experiencing the usefulness of hands for the first time in almost four months (if only by proxy), I became a little bit obsessed on coming up with some way of being able to create my own thralls or minions. Truthfully, I didn't even need to create a shout to manipulate objects. Some early experimentation, meditation and then reviewing of the capabilities of my current shouts told me that I could potentially pull of "faux" hands using Nature Control

I like to blame the fact that I had recently been meditating on my memories of SpaceBattles for my next thoughts.

"What's better than a pair of hands you have to concentrate on and control? A pair of hands which are autonomous, capable of following orders, reacting to the situation without your input and re-spawnable meat-shields."

Any spell caster of apprentice level conjuration can call one, if not two atronarchs to fight by their side. There are necromancers across all of Skyrim. The Dragon Priests and some of the Dragons could supposedly control the early Draugr. By the end of the game, the Dragonborn can summon two different dragons, one of whom is stuck in another dimension. The dragonborn is also capable of summoning the ancient Nordic heroes from Sovernguard. Durnihviir can summon hordes of undead. Alduin raises _freaking dragons_ from the dead. What was stopping me from having my own summonable minions?

Over the course of the two weeks I spent traveling, I came up with seven different variations in the wording of the shout, tried using different understandings dozens of times, but couldn't actually find anything that fit my taste. Golems made of rock and stone were either too slow, too weak or too heavy. Fire would have been okay but I wanted something that could do more than burinate anything it touched. Lightning was to uncotrollable or lacked substance. Ice faced similar problems to earth and wind was like lightning. I didn't want to end up like Durnhiviir or a plaything of Daedra (Ironic in hindsight) so I skipped dabbling in necromantic and Draemora summonings entirely for the time being.

Eventually I hit upon maybe trying to harness spirits or energy. I had ideas for a potential summon made of light, but that died when I realized I would not be able to create it underground. I had no idea how soul bindings worked so that was out and the vast majority of ghosts and phantoms were named and thus, needed specific calls. I was beginning to realize why the vast majority of shouts are element or spiritual/soul manipulation. By thinking clearly enough to have an understanding of self, you create your own shout that describes you even if you can not speak it.

During my meditations and experiments into this, I discovered that it gets even more complicated to figure out a name for someone since you may be capable of changing or having multiple names, if you have many aspects or traits that so strongly define different "views" of yourself. I fear I may have sealed my path to my second one long ago, but after what happened with Aesa and naming myself Juldovasil, I want to hold off on claiming it.

Back to the subject of summons, nothing I created or tried satisfied me or felt right despite it suiting it's purpose well enough. Then after my umpteenth failure, I did a very stupid thing. While in deep meditation and fed up of it all, I decided to jokingly pray to Talos. It started off simple enough.

"Dear Talos. I know I may have impersonated your will a lot but lately I've been trying to make it right. I don't want to leave your followers to the fates of dragons and the Thalmor, so it would be _really_ awesome if you could help me create some summons. Pretty please with sugar on to- **what the hell!"**

The black void I normally meditated in while in a deep trance _changed_. It warped, twisted and flowed like wax and madness until it formed what I recognized as the Imperial City Arena from Oblivion only up-sized to fit my draconic body.

 **"The hell is going on here?!"**

"Welcome good ladies and gentle-freaks!"

I recognized that voice! Looking up into the stands was Sheogorath and M'aiq the liar.

"M'aiq believed we were supposed to wait for the other two yes?"

"Their loss, they can't know what they can't miss. Like clothes! You can steal them right off someone and only the cheese will know!"

"M'aiq thought he was the one supposed to deliver the corn of wisdom."

"The phrase is Kernal of wisdom my finely pelted friend."

 **"What the hell is going on here?!"**

I almost winced when I realized I could have potentially pissed off a daedra lord with the power to turn me into a sweet roll and eat me. Thankfully he just laughed and went onto some spiel that somehow brought cheese, intestines and the quality of powered soaps into his speech.

"...and that is why, while you were originally supposed duel the Valkyries in combat before earning the right to use them, M'aiq and I decided that plan was too boring. So we have agreed that we should make this whole challenge thing more interesting."

"M'aiq does not remember agreeing to any such thing. Then again that may have been M'aiq's father. Or M'aiq's father's father."

 **"Uhhh what challenge thing exactly?"**

"This one!"

Without warning, the floor of the arena burst apart as something rose up from beneath. A leviathan from the deep, grey chitinous claws swiped at me as I rose into the air just in time to avoid being crushed by a massive armored leg as it rose then came down.

"YOUR OPPONENT IS A GIANT ENEMY CRAB! HIT IT'S WEAK POINT FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE!"

"M'aiq questions whether you realize how over used that is?"

Rising up into the air, the giant mud crab managed to grab the end of my tail and slam me to the ground. Looking up at it's underside, I saw a giant red "X" painted on, next to more paint reading "Weak Point". Immediately I used flame breath on the crab's underside. The entire crab glowed red and for a second I thought it had worked when it simultaneously _burst into flames and got bigger!_

"Hah! You didn't really think that would work now did ya?"

Squirming free from it's grasp, I then flew back above the crab and hit it with frost-breath. It grew in size again and exchanged it's firey skin for a armor of frost and ice. Another attack using Storm Call and the crab was shrouded in a cloak of lightning. Executing a series of aerobatics to avoid the lightning arcing off the crabs shell, it then tried to clamp it's claw around me. With no room to maneuver, I called Whirlwind Shield into existence around me. For a moment it looked like it would protect me from the crab's claw but then it grew it's own Whirlwind Shield in a cloak-form in exchange as well as growing in size again. In desperation I made Whirlwind Shield "reactive" and then used fire-breath. The explosion forced open it's claw and blew me into the air, roasted and burned but still alive. Dodging it's other claw which had now gained a "flame-cloak" again thanks to my escape, I spiraled upwards to put some space between myself and the mud crab from hell (or should that be the Shivering Isles).

"M'aiq wonders when he will finally get it."

By this point it actually dwarfed the entire arena. As it snapped it's claws up at me angrily because I was out of reach, I tried to use Flesh Heal on myself only to see it pick up the same aura Flesh Heal gave off. Curious, I then used Bone Mend to fix a fractured bone in my tail and watched as the crab's shroud changed to match.

"Yes, yes! Now he get's it!"

For the record I never used Marked For Death on myself, nor did the crab grow another twenty meters.

"...or not."

"M'aiq sees many idiotic things in his travels but this is something else."

Flying even higher up to avoid the pissed off crustacean, I paused and began to think. In game Sheogorath's puzzles required a abstract or strange way to complete them. What was I missing. The crab continued to chitter and angrily at me. It's eyes glowing with a purple spark.

...wait. That's not a spark. Those are giant soul stones! But why the heck were they so big? Using Aura Whisper, I saw that the gems in it's eyes were actually acting as siphon's. Slowly draining energy from the souls of Sheogorath and M'aiq. Only those weren't Sheograth and M'aiq. Now in their place were two Thalmor, bound and gagged to chairs and looking ready to pass out.

The instant I reduced those two Thalmor to ash, I heard a tremendous crash as the crab collapsed and crushed part of the arena.

"Well done! Very well done! If only it hadn't been so boring watching you try to figure out the puzzle."

"M'aiq thinks that this whole challenge was rather pointless. Why not have just used the Valkyries instead of the mud crab?"

"Because MAGIC my dear fuzzy friend. MAGIC."

"...M'aiq is not fuzzy. He is simply thick furred."

By this point I was tired, frustrated and just wanted to leave.

 **"This is great and all but can you send me home now."**

"Well of course we can send you home! But that would be a boring end to the story now wouldn't it?"

 **"What..."**

The arena slowly began to twist and fade, returning back to the void that I saw in my deep meditation trances. Upon trying to leave the trance however, I found I was till trapped and could hear whispers of voices and words.

 **"Oh great, now who wants to dick me over?"**

Out of the non-existent horizon of the void in front of me, golden streams of energy burst forth, coiling and wrapping themselves around me. Understandings and concepts assaulted my mind. The thoughts and ideas necessary for the use of a new shout. A summoning shout.

Summon Valkyrie of Talos - "Sah Kaal Fen" - Phantom Champion Will

After another few moments I finally left the trance and immediately started writing this. Lesson learned today. Be careful what you wish/pray for. Right now I just want to roll over and go to sleep because holy god, my brain feels like it's about to melt out of my skull.

When I have the chance, I'll figure out and tell you guys what my latest shout actually summons.

 **Journal Entry #19 The Valkyries of Talos**

Well, I guess I am officially working for Talos now.

I ended up not doing anything for a few days as my brain was full of fuck, and it wasn't until later that I tried meditating on everything that had been forced into me in order to try and make sense of it. When I did, I figured out how the shout worked, and thus why I think I may have been officially employed by Talos now.

"Sah Kaal Fen" - Phantom Champion Will, at it's core is not like most of the previous shouts where I am directly making something happen or controlling something. It's similar to how "Krif Vikng Bo" is more spirtitual than physical in nature. It calls out past the realm of Mundus and calls for aid from the spirits of great warriors and servants of Talos to temporarily bind themselves to me on the mortal plane. "Phantom" is to call out to the spirits of the victorious dead for aid and prepare a spectral form for them in this world. "Champion" is to summon those who in life were the champions of Talos' will and ideals in life, protectors of the people and great warriors on the field of battle. "Will" is to bind them to my command and will so that through me they may perform and act upon the Will of Talos. The number of words I use, as long as I have the understanding and concepts of the whole shout on my mind, effects how many Valkyries I summon. One word calls four, two calls eight and the complete shout calls twelve to my side.

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I used the shout for the first time, especially considering the involvement of Sheogorath and M'aiq. Best case scenario, the shout did exactly as it said on the tin. Worst case, it summoned something that wanted to kill me as I hadn't dueled it in combat yet. I got a bit of a shock when despite saying Valkyrie (singular), I ended up with twelve of them at once.

Each of the Valkyries closely resembles a hollow, floating/flying set of the female version of the in-game steel plate armor, only with a few stylistic throwbacks to the ancient Nord armor for males that you can create in game. The helmet is a slightly sharper and more angular "winged" helm from the steel plate set, with more decorative inscriptions. The chest armor uses the female steel plate breast-plate, however they have large fur cloaks on their backs and the pauldrons have the large, heavy steel plates and furs from the male ancient Nord armor on top of the lower portion of steel plate spaulders to protect the shoulders and upper arms. The lower arms are protected steel-plate gauntlets which are again thicker, more angular covered in more decorative inscriptions and with the use of more furs. The belt at the waist resembles the fur and leather covered in steel medallions design of the steel plate armor, but the "skirt" is larger and divided into four knee length parts, one on each side. On the legs, the armor resembles the angular, thicker, and more inscribed look the rest of the steel plate has, while again making use of more furs again.

When summoned, the Valkyries are usually armed differently and seem set up to work as teams of four. Each group contains two Valkyries armed with Nord hero one handed weapons, usually a sword or axe and a steel shield and with a Nord hero bow slung across their backs with a quiver of arrows.

One of the other Valkyries will be wielding some sort of two handed weapon when they are summoned. I think I can tell these three apart as out of the twelve there is only one great-sword wielder, one war-hammer user and one with a battle-axe. These three also have dual one handed weapons as their back ups, the great-sword wielder using swords, the war-hammer user with maces and the battle-axe user with war axes.

The final Valkyrie in each group of four seems to be the party jack-of-all trades. They appear using Nord hero bows and arrows at first, but the also seem capable of using magic to attack or buff either themselves or their allies. When stuff gets to close for their comfort or if magic is needed, they'll usually switch from their bows to either dual casting or casting with their left hand and wielding a Nord Heros mace with their right.

I spent a few days testing out their capabilities on bandits and the local wildlife so I now now what their general strengths and disadvantages are. Despite gaining a physical form and being more numerous than any other shout summon, they aren't roaring invincible titans. Their not so much summon-able damage dealing tanks like the draemora lords, but medium strength, versatile situational tools which can be adapted for different needs. Their biggest advantages is their teamwork and ability to change their weapon load-outs after being summoned. With me in the air providing cover, it's not so much like directing a bunch of brainless A.I.s that are only capable of being reactionary like in an R.T.S. but instead, they act like trained warriors and squads, covering one another's flanks and weaknesses while I act as air support and AWACS for them.

If the bandits have the high ground and protective cover from a distance, some of the sword and shield Valkyries switch over to their bows, the Jackies as I'm starting to call them, will switch to dual casting and then start laying down suppressive fire-balls and ice-spikes on the bandits, as well as buffing and healing the other half of the sword and shield Valkyries and the two-hander Valkyries as they go from cover to cover or use a shield formation to turtle up the hill.

All in all, they are rather awesome, mid-level equivalent summons which more than make up for their lack of survivability or damage out put, with their numbers and versatility.

I can now see the Throat of the World on the horizon. It is _fucking massive_. I'm actually feeling excited about this! Even if the dragonborn is no longer on the Throat of the World, for months Whiterun has been the goal I have been aiming for. So often Whiterun has felt like the pot of gold at the end of this nightmarish rainbow. From there it is only a final stepping stone to the Throat of the World and Paarthurnax.

 **Journal Entry #20 Whiterun Burning**

Remember how you guys said that I should be careful about feeling triumphant? You were right.

There is a _fucking_ dragon headed for Whiterun!

When I saw the city to the south of me, I instantly could tell something was up. There was a village sized camp of tents outside the gates, most of them in the process of being hurriedly packed up and crowds of people milling around the city gates. Flying lower and using "Wire-tap" I pieced together what's going on.

Apparently this thing came up over the mountains north of Bleak Falls Barrow, flying in a zig-zag pattern and randomly obliterating a number of towns, villages and farmsteads. Conflicting reports of another larger black dragon with vicious spiked armor and firey red eyes flying into these mountains and then leaving before this, tells me Alduin seems to have raised this guy and then already left. The dragon has been slowly heading north and is due to hit Whiterun from the west some time tomorrow if his current pattern of destruction holds.

The tent village is the refugees and farm folk who have either fled the path of the dragon or had their homes destroyed. It doesn't help that a bandit problem has started up and is now looting and raiding the victims left in the dragon's wake. With news that the dragon is likely to hit Whiterun soon, many people are unsure wether to run or stay.

Whiterun is the home of the Companions and Dragonsreach itself, was built to house and cage a dragon. However even with these factors to it's advantage, in the event of a dragon attack, large portions of the city, especially the plains district will be vulnerable. This isn't like the game where Whiterun was a only three dozen buildings on a steep hill. This is a sprawling trader and mercantile city surrounded by farming communities which has spread beyond the walls of the original fortress of Dragonsreach. There could easily be a few thousand people here.

The guards are preparing the city for attack but you can tell they are only doing so because there is little else they can do to prepare. What use are walls when your enemy can fly right over them? From what I've heard the court wizard has locked himself in his study and has been working almost non-stop at trying to figure out some way of stopping this dragon. Jarl Balgruuf has been trying to contact the dragonborn, but apparently the Grey Beards already sent the dragonborn off to look for the horn a month or so back. It's anyone's guess where they are now.

The way things are looking, the guards and Companions are going to try and kill the dragon simply by swarming it where ever it decide to land and hope for the best. Apparently the fight with Mirmulnir resulted in the Western Watchtower becoming the western pile of rubble.

Like hell I'm going to let Whiterun be reduced to ash! I don't care if this thing is so much more powerful or ancient than me! I don't care if this thing shreds me and eats my soul! Tonight I'm going to rest, meditate, pray to Talos and prepare myself.

As long as I can still draw breath, I will **not** let there be another Morthal!

 **Journal Entry #21 The Dragonborn Comes**

This current journal entry is being dictated to a Valkyrie who is writing it down for me. Why may you ask? Because I am currently bound in chains.

The dragon arrived around sunset. With the blazing orange sky at his back, the it blended almost perfectly with the Ancient Dragon. As much as I would have liked to fight outside the city, an Ancient Dragon would definitely be to much for me to handle on my own, so engaging him in the city once he was distracted would be invaluable. With most of the city's populace evacuated or hidden in the dungeons and deeper basements of Dragonsreach and various buildings around the city, this freed up everyone to use their "big guns" and meant I would not have to be as badly worried about collateral damage.

Whiterun had the town guard, the Companions, a few imperial squads that had been sent here to pick up supplies, a group of mercenaries off to join the Stormcloaks, some ex-students from the College of Winterhold, some Dawnguard who were passing through, and a mixed bag of adventurers (retired and new), mercenaries and a few hundred civilian volunteer's. Hell, I think I may have seen a Dark Botherhood member skulking around the town during the night instead of escaping. Of course a group of Thalmor appeared during the middle of the night's evacuations and instead of staying to help, immediately left. The bastards.

There potentially was enough people here to kill the thing without me. However the dragon had air superiority. Under normal conditions, it's greatest advantage and tactic was that it could easily strafe and burn Whiterun to the ground from the air. I was going to take away that advantage.

The plan was to station everyone around Dragonsreach Jorrvaskr and some of the taller buildings in the Cloud district, having most of the mages and archers with the best aim or range hold fire until it was in the city and then snipe at the dragon from the points with the widest views. They believed if they could damage it's wings enough, they could force it to land and engage it on the ground, preferably in the plaza near the Gildergreen and Talos shrine or in the Plains district marketplace. In-game it was just the tree outside the temple and a small stone plaza, but here it was much bigger in order to hold large numbers of people during important events or celebrations. Now it was going to become a battleground.

Awaiting the dragon's arrival, I circled Whiterun far above calling down from the Throat of the World large volumes of cloud and wind, in preparation to fuel a massive Storm Call to put out any fires that would inevitably spring up during the battle. As it flew into the city and I waited for the mages and archers to engage the dragon, I felt some niggling feeling deep in my soul. Unsure why, I looked down to the Gilderdreen plaza and noticing a figure standing in front of the shrine of Talos, and used "Wire-tap on them". It was Everybody's favorite fanatical preacher of Talos, Heimskr.

"...for I shall not fear their evil. With Talos in my heart and his protection of my soul, I shall stand my ground and never falter in the face of death. My foes may be raging and eternal but with belief in Talos I SHALL KNOW NO FEAR!"

"Heimskr you crazy bastard! Get out of there!"

"Looks like he finally lost it thanks to the dragon attacks..."

"Oh gods, he's attracted it's attention!"

Having noticed him the dragon turned lazily to the square before roaring and beginning to circle.

"I do not fear you beast! Even if you strike my down, with Talos guiding them, THIS TOWN SHALL SLAY YOU."

The ancient dragon once again roared, this time even louder, as well as setting a nearby house on fire. However it still had yet to stay in one place long enough for the mages and archers leaders to give them the signal to attack. The town's plan relied on damaging the dragon in a single combined barrage to cause enough damage to it's wings, it would be required to land where they wanted it to.

"Talos is my pillar! My strength! No creature as foul as you will ever topple it! NEVER!"

The dragon finally stopped flying and began to hover in front of Heimskr.

"ATTACK! AIM FOR IT'S WINGS! EVERYBODY AIM FOR IT'S WINGS!"

As I prepared to Dragonrend the ancient dova, the same feeling that told me look at the plaza instructed me to hold back for a moment. It was a good thing I did.

 **"Tid Klo Ul!"**

Using Slow Time, the ancient dragon seemed to almost spin in the air like a tornado, releasing Unrelenting Forces, Disarms and Dismays into the surrounding city. Arrows were deflected, spells dodged and his thu'ums broke the grips and shattered the courage of all but Whiterun's greatest wills and hearts. Even at the great height I was circling from, I could feel the the urge to turn and flee, fly as fast as my wings could carry me and cower in fear at the sight and sound of something that was so much my greater.

 _Hold steady and do not fear_

The ancient dragon surveyed the city and the forces around him before speaking.

 **"Such pitiful creatures. Look upon me. To think I, Beinalbahlok, would be drawn into your trap so easily. Even the weakest of those listening to the Whispers of the world's Auras could have seen your hidden forces. So confident. So easy to fool. So easy to fall."**

"As long...as I have...Talos...I...Shall...NEVER FALL!"

 **"Ah yes, and your never ending tendency and need to look for the strength of those greater than you. A pity you're gods do not return you're loyalty."**

"Talos protects us all, be it in life or death! You may kill me but I shall live on! Beyond this realm as with all his followers! For he is-"

 **"Fass Ru Maar!"**

"Heimskr!"

"Don't he's distracting it for now!"

"Everybody pick up your weapons! Come on you dogs, that dragon's not going to be paying attention to the preacher all day!"

 _Soon. The moment to strike will be soon._

In the square, Heimskr staggard and knelt on the ground, one hand steadying himself while the other gripped the amulet of Talos he wore.

"...dear Talos..."

 **"This is what you face mortal. This is power you can never command nor comprehend."**

"...I...may not...command power... But I can comprehend the power of Talos" He got to his feet and then ripped the amulet from his neck, holding above his head for all to see. "AND YOU SHALL NEVER MATCH IT!"

Beinalbahlok just looked amused and laughed.

 **"You amuse me human. For that reason I offer you this. Throw away your trinket, prostrate yourself before me and denouce your god. If you do so, I shall make your death and the deaths of your fellow insects less painful than I planned. You're god is obviously not going to save you today."**

"It's going to kill Heimskr!"

"Poor bastard, he'd never do it."

"Captain! Not everybody is ready to fire yet!"

 _Prepare yourself_

"I will never abandon Talos! For Talos will never abandon ME! HE SHALL PROTECT US ALWAYS!"

Beinalbahlok seemed to shrug almost uncaringly mid-flap.

 **"You're choice insect. I was lying anyway. YOL TOOR SHUL!"**

 _Strike him down now!_

 _ **"JOOR ZAR FRUL! WULD SPAN DWIIN! STRUN BAH QO! SAH KAAL FEN!"**_

It must have looked like a true miracle to the people of Whiterun. As Beinalbahlok's fire-breath streaked through the air and consumed around Heimskr, the skies erupted into a thunderstorm and the great ancient wyrm cried out in pain and terror as a corona of energy and light ensarned his body and began to drag him to the ground. Less than a moment later, a second dragon, this one a battle-scarred beast of white, came roaring out of the clouds wreathed with lightning, heralded by the thunder, and followed by a honor-guard of heavily armored maidens, their inscribed armors reflecting the gleam of the lightning they and their master decended with.

Beinalbahlok had only a moment to look up, the fear apparent in his eyes for all to see, before I collided with him, feet first to his chest, and slammed him to the ground hard enough to crater the plaza. Around us the Valkyries landed, shattering the stones they impacted on and clearing the smoke around Heimskr, revealing him unharmed and surrounded by a dispersing shield of spiraling air. In his hand he held his amulet of Talos, holding it before him as if in desperation, he thought it would protect him from the flames that almost consumed him.

In a way it had protected him. Leaning into Beinalbahlok's face and head-butting him, I bellowed.

 _ **"I AM THE WILL OF TALOS! AND HIS WILL IS TO PROTECT THIS TOWN!**_

Beinalbahlok was obviously terrified and stunned but unlike Lokjotrahgul he kept his head about him. Opening his maw, he then kicked me off of his chest when I reared back to avoid the pillar of flames which came forth, so much hotter than mine or Lokjotrahgul's. Flaring my wings and jumping backwards, I dodged a swipe from his tail and and replied with a frost-breath to slow him down. Off to the side, the Valkyries had switched over to their bows or dual casting spells while the three two-handers hung back waiting for an opening. Activating Slow Time, Beinalbahlok managed to dodge most of the arrows and spells, but was hampered due to his location on the ground.

"ATTACK!"

Trusting my instincts, I nailed Beinalbahlok with another Dragonrend and took to the air, ordering the Valkyries to retreat. As they ran, one of them picked up a still stunned and slack-jawed Heimskr, carrying him up the hill bridal style and then dived behind the statue of Talos, just in time to be protected from what had to be one of the most destructive and explosive scenes I had ever seen. From all side Beinalbahlok was bombarded into the ground by almost a hundred spells of various schools and types and a literal rain of arrows. Apparently the court wizard had made an absolutely insane amounts of spell scrolls and simply handed them out to anybody with enough skill or mana to activate them.

A few of them were sent my way, but almost all of them targeted and impacted on Beinalbahlok. The smell of burned flesh and blood seeped into the air as the ancient dragon was literally shredded alive, his hide and flesh to thick it be properly pierced. When the barrage finally stopped, the plaza was obscured with smoke and the only sounds were that of my wing-beats, the showering rain and the raging thunderstorm above.

"Divines, did we actually kill it!?"

 **"Raaggghhhhh! You traitorous WORM!"**

"Great going asshole, you jinxed us!"

"All hands, prepare for another barrage!"

 **"I may not know what dark magics you have dabbled in but that won't stop me from destroying you! WULD NAH KEST!"**

Charging straight into me, it became apparent that for all the impressiveness of the magical barrage, and the number of cuts and burns across his body, he had clearly not suffered any threatening or debilitating injuries. I knew instantly that killing this guy would be like trying to kill someone using papercuts. It was going to be long, slow and very painful for everybody involved. Ordering the Valkyries to new positions, I shook Beinalbahlok off me and gave him a faceful of Dragonrend, as a number of mages and guards rained down fire from the roof of Jorrvaskr.

 **"You think you can defeat me! I am the scourge of Alsrindr! You are all beneath me!"**

 _ **"The Will of Talos is below only Talos himself! Know his rage through me!"**_

Pouring on the heat from the air, Beinalbahlok cringed and looked away trying to protect his eyes, only to receive a number of ice spikes to the face. Bellowing in pain, he failed notice a number of the Companions charge him from behing. Using Nature Control, I commanded the roots of the Gildergreen spread out under the plaza to burst through the stone and begin binding themselves around Beinalbahlok. Each twin taking a leg, Farkas and Vilkas of the Companions stabbed spears into Beinalbahlok's ankles, slowing him further. From the roof of a nearby house, Aela the Huntress and a group of imperials shot one of Beinalbahlok's wings full of arrows while a town guard and Amren the Redguard slashed open the other.

With a surge of pain fueled strength, Beinalbahlok broke the grip of the roots and then turned, biting down on the guard next to Armen and swiping Farkas across the plaza with his tail. Turning around he then blasted a mass of flames, forcing Aela and the imperials to jump or be burned. Trying to bind him back down with the roots proved futile as with his new range of movement he was slowly breaking free. With a bite the took out a two-hander Valkyrie and would have gotten Armen if she hadn't pushed him away, he then snapped his head in my direction and hit me with Unrelenting force faster than I could react.

I was beginning to realize just how big the gap in power between a blood dragon like Lokjotrahgul and a ancient dragon like Beinalbahlok. His Unrelenting force was strong enough to knock me out of the air and into the side of the temple of Kynareth, destroying part of the wall and dazing me. For a moment I had a confusing, upside down view of the interior of the temple and terrified people crowded around the shrine, the next I was brought back to reality when Beinalbahlok bit down and tore a strip of flesh from my chest. Raking his belly with the claws on my legs and then kicking him away, I launched myself into the air to avoid another magic spell barrage from the roof tops and Dragonsreach.

The bastard just refused to die. The combined efforts of everybody had almost completely removed most of his scales and armor at this point, leaving him a raw, screaming, bloody mass of flesh. But he was still a deadly and capable raw, screaming, bloody mass of flesh.

 **"You are worms groveling in the dirt! Cower before me and look upon your destruction!"**

 _ **"The Will of Talos wonders WHY THE HELL WON'T YOU DIE ALREADY!"**_

"Keep it up men! This thing has to go down at some point!"

 **"Fools! Die! YOOL TOR SHUL!**

 _ **"WULD NAH KEST!**_

Charging straight through his fire-breath, I ducked down and then bit his throat, clamping down and shaking it in an effort to tear open something vital and cause him pain. Fighting to dislodge me, we pulled and dragged one another across the square before he managed to drag me past the Gildergreen and make me collide with it. Not giving him the chance to get away, I forced the dormant Gildergreen to return to life and rapidly create new growth. The tree almost exploded in half as new branches of the tree grew from the no longer sleeping core and wrapped Beinalbahlok in their embrace. Recognizing an opportunity when they saw it, the defenders of Whiterun poured another barrage of magical spells into his flank.

However, weakened by the explosions and fires of the barrage, the Gildergreen's bindings weakened and Beinalbahlok once more charged forwards. Firing a Dragonrend at point blank range down his throat did little to stop him and I was temporarily blinded thanks to him biting down on my face and puncturing my eyes. When I finished healing my eyes I looked up just in time to see him crush another of the Valkyries and set a number of the mages on top of a nearby house alight. Still unable to fly, he began climbing the steps up to Dragonsreach, obviously set on removing the magical artillery that had been slowly flaying him alive over the course of the battle.

Just as he was preparing to burn the defenders of Dragonsreach alive, I bit down on his tail and had the Valkyries jump on to his back, stabbing and hacking his already destroyed flesh open further as I dragged him back into the plaza.

 **"Arrrghhh! Enough with you pest. It is time you knew your place. In the ground with the bones of these insects! FUS RO DAH!"**

That was the single most powerful attack I have experienced in this world yet. It literally decimated and annihilated everything before him. Almost all the Valkyries were destroyed, men and women were smashed like rotten tomatoes, houses were knocked down and I was blown through a couple of buildings and then into the stone wall separating the Plains and Cloud district. As I lay against that wall feeling like every bone in my draconic body was shattered, he slowly advanced on me. I needed time to heal but ordering the only remaining Valkyrie to attack him was futile. He bit it in half and then bit down on my neck before tossing me back into the square.

Just one shout and he had changed the flow of the battle entirely. Standing over me he looked down.

 **"I have not been forced to fight this hard in millennia. Tell me your name so that I may be able to identify you amongst those who I have consumed before."**

I felt something within me stir. This was not the time for me to die this was not the end of Juldovasil. It was only the turning point for something else. I would not let my end be at this monsters hand!

 _ **"You are not worthy to hear my name scum! Know me by my title! By the name those that died by my hand before you knew me by! I am The Will of Talos! FENDOTALOS!"**_

 **"Very well weakli-"**

"Fus Ro!"

 _She is here. You have found her._

 **"WHAT THE!?"**

A woman's voice?

"Lydia, fall back and use your bow!"

Kicking Beinalbahlok off me and stopping him from setting the small woman in steel armor charging him on fire, I began dragging myself away while healing my devastated body.

"What the hell are are you doing Erika, there's two of them!"

Hearing the now familiar roar of the magical artillery strike coming in, I saw the dragonborn was still charging at Beinalbahlok and didn't realize the danger she was in.

 _ **"Golz Kopraan Whalaan"**_

Causing a hollow shell of stone to burst from the plaza around the dragonborn and encase her, Beinalbahlok was once again burned shredded and generally put in a world of hurt. Using Raise Stone again to open the dragonborn's shelter and send spears of stone to stab Beinalbahlok from below, I cast another Dragonrend on him before almost collapsing. This fucker needed to die and needed to die now. What ever stroke of luck chose to hand the dragonborn to us at this time, had still handed us the equivalent of an early game dragonborn judging by how she simply charged Beinalbahlok.

 **"Cursed...dragonborn! Know my wrath! FUS-"**

Recognizing what would probably happen if the dragon born got hit, I hauled myself to my feet and charged at him.

 _ **"WULD NAH KEST! SAH KAAL FEN!"**_

Twelve Valkyries of Talos and one heavily injured dragon collided with Beinalbahlok and smashed his face away from the dragonborn. In suprise and shock, he released his Unrelenting force into a nearby house, reducing it to match-sticks and splinters. Tail-whipping him across the face and then calling up more roots from the Gildergreen to hold him down, all while using raise stone to repeatedly stab him from in the stomach and chest, I turned to see a shocked dragonborn staring at me like I had two heads.

 _ **"Don't just stand their gaping! Help me kill him!"**_

"...uh right!"

 **"You...will...DIE!"**

Turning back to Beinalbahlok, I was just in time to see him break from of the roots and headbutt me in the face. Grabbing my neck in his maw, he then tried to rip my throat out, causing me to stagger, lose my footing and upon being released, go flying across the plaza and into the front side of the temple of Kynareth.

Rearing over me to bite down on my neck again, he cried out in pain, revealing the dragonborn and a number of the Valkries had jumped onto his back. Shaking her loose however, he then tail-whipped her across the plaza. Hitting him with Dragonrend, I then bit at him and threw him into the open, before flying backwards to avoid another round of magical bombardment.

 **"...hurgh...I...kill...you...both..."**

 _ **"Urgh, he's finally starting to die. Now to actually finish him off."**_

"What do you mean finally? He just took a massive explosion to the face! And why are you even helping?!"

Looking over at the dragonborn, I then remembered she hadn't been here at the start of the fight.

 **"hurrghhggg!"**

Charging at us, Beinalbahlok's blood loss was begining to show in his slowed reactions and loss of strength. As the dragonborn ducked under his jaws, I flew above him, hitting him with Dragonrend and calling more Valkries to replace any that had been killed again.

 **"Destoyyahhh...yooo...arrrrgh!"**

Slashing him in the same spot Farkas had gone for earlier, the dragonborn severed whatever remaining muscles controlled that foot after so many magical barrages. Collapsing where he stood but still alive, Beinalbahlok got lucky and hit me and a few Valkyries with another Unrelenting Force. This one sent me flying through the statue of Talos and into the hillside, breaking practically all of the bones that had just finished healing as well as causing internal injuries. In return the last few Valkyries swarmed him and another magic barrage finally sealed his fate.

 **"..urgah...rahhh...urr..."**

Beinalbahlok was finally down and not about to get up again. Time for the finishing stroke before I passed out from exhaustion and pain. Commanding the plants in the area to once again restrain him, I looked to the dragonborn and then simply said;

 _ **"Finish Him."**_

As I passed into the oblivion of unconsciousness, I watched her climb on top of his head and then drive her sword into his brain.

 **Journal Entry #22 An Interview With A Dragon**

Her name is Erika Red-Leif.

After waking up in the night to find myself bound in enchanted chains of strength, I easily broke the bindings around my mouth and began healing my injuries while dictating the course of the battle in dragon tongue to a Valkyrie. There were a few guards standing around me in the darkness of the square, but while at first they seemed terrified by the ease at which I broke my muzzle of steel, they later seemed almost curious when I made no visable effort to escape. Of course there was still a crowd of reinforcements that rapidly crowded around me, obviously prepared to fight me if I attacked. After healing the most pressing of my injuries and finishing my dictation to the Valkyrie, I de-summoned it and then fell into another exhausted sleep.

When I finally woke up, it was the middle of the next day and I was surrounded by a crowd of curious on lookers standing a distance away from me. Unable to move my bulk, they had apparently left me where I had fallen and chained me to the ground in front of the destroyed shrine of Talos on the edge of the plaza. In the distance, I could see two more crowds of people in the plaza, some gathered around what was obviously the skeleton of Beinalbahlok, and others around the "new" Gildergreen that had broken apart and shattered the "older" tree when the core burst into activity, ignoring the outer parts of the tree and expoding outwards in order to obey my commands.

In the distance, I could hear Heimskr going on one of his fanatical spiels about Talos and demanding they unchain me. Shouting back equally loudly was a voice I recognized as Irileth how unchaining the beast was tantamount to suicide and they should slay it where it lay. Then I heard a familiar voice.

"Farengar, I'm not sure if this is a good idea..."

"Don't worry, I'm only going to be collecting a few samples. It should still be asleep now any...way..."

Standing at the front of the crowd, he could now see I was awake and eyeing him carfully.

"Incredible...uh...greetings sir, you have no idea how long I have waited for such an opportunity. Chance to study a real, live dragon. I would be most appreciative if you would permit me to perform a few...tests. All for the advancement of knowledge of course."

 **"I would appreciate if you did not mage. I prefer my sense of pride intact."**

Ignoring me, he stepped around to the side and out of my view. Shifting uncomfortably and hoping he would take the hint and go away, a number of chains groaned the under strain of what was only a slight movement for me.

"I don't think you should do this Farengar. It broke the chains around it's jaws last night pretty damn easily. Don't try and piss it off."

Ignoring the guard, Farengar continued.

"I assure you, none of these tests will be painful or uncomfortable to a dragon of a size such as yourself. You will hardly even notice me."

 **"Leave me be mage! Do not test my self-control."**

"This is a bad Idea, even for you Farengar. Your angering it!"

"Don't worry. I'm sure a dragon of such a size as yourself would not miss a few scales or drops of blood."

Then in the distance I heard Heimskr.

"Farengar! What are you doing! You dare to violate such a mighty and powerful messenger of our great god Talos!"

Rearing up, I broke my chains and pulled the pegs which anchored them from the ground, and turned to face Farengar. Some in the crowd screamed as they rapidly back-pedaled or fled the square.

"ARCHERS!"

"Do not test the servant of Talos Farengar!"

 **"I said leave me be! Count yourself lucky it was me you were foolish enough to test the patience of! Any other dova would have rent you limb from limb!"**

Watching the terrified court mage, rapidly crab-walk away from me in fear, I glared at him before laying back down and curling into myself and going into a light meditation and using "Wire-tap" pass the time and learn the out come of the battle.

All in all, it was a pretty decent out come, and could have been much worse if the dragonborn hadn't shown up in time.

The damage from the battle had been amazingly well contained, all things considered, but the area for a few blocks in either direction surrounding the Gildergreen plaza was pretty much annihilated and the plaza itself looked like a bunker-buster had gone off in it. The damage to the place was literally to great to list. About the only building in the area not to take noticeable damage was Dragonsreach. Even Jorrvaskr had taken some damage in the process thanks to errant spells for the magic barrages or breath-attacks from Beinalbahlok. The plaza was now filled with destroyed piles of stone and damaged, grasping roots from my attempts to restrain and stab Beinalbahlok using the Gildergreen's roots and spikes of stone as well as the sooty scars and rends in it's surface thanks to our unforgiving breath attacks and claws. The temple of Kynareth was actually lucky to be still standing and would have to be reinforced.

Casualty wise, there were almost a hundred people dead and more than two times that number injured. Half of those would probably never work their lively hoods again. As I listened in, I found that it was basically agreed that with out the intervention of myself, or the dragonborn, Whiterun probably would have been destroyed. There would be many people homeless or without jobs for the next few months as Whiterun and the surrounding towns and villages tried to rebuild what Beinalbahlok had destroyed. There was also growing reports of banditry in the areas he had passed through and many towns had already been left undefended or easy prey since the start of the civil war.

As I feigned sleep and continued to meditate and eaves drop, I heard the familiar voice of many players first pack mule and housecarl.

"Wait, so why exactly is it unchained?!"

"It broke it's bonds earlier when Farengar pissed it off but after that it seems to have just curled up and gone to sleep like a cat."

Opening my eye, I could see off to the side Lydia and a town guard conversing, while standing directly in front of me was the young woman from yesterday. The dragonborn. At first she seemed shocked by the sudden opening of my eye but then she began to inspect me as I evaluated her in return.

She was probably Nordic. She had the blond hair, blue eyes and fair skin of the race, but she was slightly built and a little on the small side. She wore a complete set of basic steel armor and had a steel shield slung cross her back, over a bow of some kind and a quiver of arrows. At her side was a sword sheathed in it's scabbard and on her thigh was a large dagger or hunting knife. As I looked at her, I realized that she was young, only about eighteen or twenty at the most. Her build also didn't fit that of a dragonslayer or adventurer. From what I could see of her arms, she wasn't dainty or unfit, but she looked like somebody who was quickly gaining strength through a larger amount of physical activity over the past few months than what they'd normally experience. Her expression was not that of a hardened warrior evaluating something that was a threat, but confusion and a slight amount of wariness.

Deciding to break the silence first, I slowly raised myself up and looked down at her.

 **"Greetings Dovakiin. Drem Yol Lok"**

She looked surprised at my civility before imperceptibly straightening and staring me straight in the eye.

"What are are you? And why did you come here?"

 **"I am a dova. One of the race of beings your people refer to as dragons. I am here at the command and will of my master, Talos. As his Will it was my duty to protect this town."**

Off to the side I could hear Heimskr begining to hyperventilate, but I kept my gaze on the dragonborn.

"I thought the dragons sought to destroy the world? Why do you fight for Talos?"

 **"My begins are different from the others. For that reason I chose to take upon myself the mantle of the Will of Talos and become his servant. It is also miss-leading to believe all dragons wish to destroy the world. Most of them seek only to dominate and conquer all that they see, that is true, but throughout the history of Nirn, there have been many dragons who turned and fought their dark and destructive natures. I am far from the first to do so."**

"Do you mean that there are other dragons out there like you?"

I paused for a moment and considered telling her about Paarthurnax before deciding against it. Finding Paarthurnax was an important reveal and learning curve for the player. While I could open her to the belief that dragons were not all evil, Paarthurnax's existence was a closely guarded secret and his tale was his to tell.

 **"Once yes. Long before I came into existence there was the Dragon War. A great war where dragon raged against dragon and the humans fought to be free from under the claws of their draconic masters. It is said goddess Kyne took pity on the humans and commanded a number of the dragons to rebel against their Leader ways and teach the humans the Thu'um.**

 **However in return, the dragons slaughtered these so called traitors before their leader was finally defeated and cast forward in time, banished until he returns to herald the end of the world. Tragically safety and peace were denied to the dragons. Many of those that protected and taught the humans were hunted down and killed in fanatical purges to wipe out the remaining dragons so that they could never darken the skies of Tamriel again. The last of these dragons and the most renowned teacher of the Thu'um, has not been seen for more than seven hundred years. Even the dragons that chose to serve Talos in life have not survived to this day, all of them slain on the fields of battle."**

"If all the dragons are dead, where are these ones coming from?"

I paused once again to consider how much I should reveal and how much to withhold from her. Half-truths and partial facts go!

 **"Not all of the dragons were killed in the purges. Some of them were imprisoned or captured by various forces and for different purposes through out history. It is possible one of these may have escaped from their imprisonment or banishment and found a way to return to the physical realm in order to begin releasing their kin."**

"But you just said they are all dead. How does one dragon returning cause this many to appear across all of Skyrim?"

 **"A dova's soul is immortal. If not absorbed by another dova, their soul can exist in the immaterial for an eternity. To complicate matters, dragons with enough power and a sufficiently advanced understanding of a Thu'um can create new bodies for these formless dragon souls to inhabit. I believe it was most likely one of these dragons who have returned to Skyrim."  
**  
"So when those dragons were wiped out in the purges..."

 **"Their souls were left still intact. They have awaited a millennia to return and for each, the hour of their resurrection grows near. It is only a matter of the returned dragon finding and releasing them from their deaths."**

The dragonborn was silent for a number of minutes, obviously processing what she had heard.

"What is your name dragon?"

I grinned toothily and laughed.

 **"A name is a special thing amongst dova. As three words which most describe us, it is a Thu'um in itself. To not just call, but Thu'um a dragon is to either challenge them or call for their aid. We only share our names amongst those we trust not to abuse them."**

"So you won't tell me."

 **"No Dragonborn, not yet. Maybe one day I will trust you enough to teach you it, but for now you may know me by my title. I am the Will of Talos. In our tongue I am Fendotalos."**

She looked thoughtful as she ran over the title in the dragon-tongue, attempting to repeat it. She then returned her gaze to me.

"Erika. I am Erika Red-Leif."

" **Well met then Erika Red-Leif, Last of the Dragonborn. It has been an honor meeting you."**

She nodded and turned to move away and rejoin Lydia when I spoke up again.

 **"When you first looked upon me, there was something you saw. Tell me. What is it that I reminded you that would spark remembered fear and wariness from you?"**

She stopped and looked back at me before glancing down and clenching her fists.

"Helgen... A few months back... When the dragons first appeared I was at a town called Helgen. It's now considered the first place to be attacked. You reminded me of the dragon that attacked Helgen. Only he had red eyes and was black as night, while you are blue eyed and white like ice."

I hmmm'd slowly and then looked grave.

 **"I know of only one dragon that looks like me yet bares reversed colors. A dova far beyond any of my capabilities and powers, a being that is infinitely my greater. He is the first of the dragons and easily the most powerful. His hatred of both man and mer as well of his lust for power would make him the most likely suspect behind the return of the dragons if he has finally awakened and escaped."**

"How powerful is he exactly?"

I turned from the dragonborn and then stared at the skeleton of Beinalbahlok. Following my gaze, she looked at the pile of bones and scales of the beast that had almost destroyed Whiterun.  
 **  
"In comparison to him, we have only slain a captain in a the army of an emperor. This was not even one of his generals."**

 **Journal Entry #23 And the Faithful Shall Be Rewarded!**

After talking with the dragonborn we then went our separate ways and didn't actually run into each other for another two days.

Once messengers were sent out into the surrounding countryside to declare a temporary end to the threat of dragon attack on Whiterun, the thoughts of it's defenders now turned towards the problem of rebuilding the damaged or outright destroyed sections of the Cloud district and the annihilated Gildergreen plaza. Of course the first problem at hand was the clean up.

Debris had to be cleared from the streets, damaged buildings had to be identified as repairable or to badly damaged to save, people had to remove belongings in order to tear down or repair buildings, and then of course there was the matter of housing everybody. While the first day after the battle was an opportunity to recover, the second marked the start of planning out the clean up.

The entire day, people and messengers from different locations around the Cloud district were rushing up and down the stairs to Dragonsreach. Hilariously, whenever Farengar walked up the stairs he kept his head facing straight ahead and was obviously trying to avoid looking at me. I saw the dragonborn go up once or twice, but she was usually in a hurry and would have the time to give a quick respectful nod to me before continuing with her business. By the end of the day, the Jarl and his advisors had enough information to decide what areas were more important or were going to take longer to clear, repair and rebuild.

On the third day after the battle, my strength had finally returned to me completely and the clean up of the Cloud district began in earnest.

As the morning progressed and I evaluated wether I had properly healed my muscle groups and bones, I looked out across the Gildergreen plaza, pitying the fact that it was now one massive eye sore. It was also causing problems for practically everyone passing through it. Massive craters, broken spears of stone, shattered pieces of pavement, Gildergreen roots grasping and burrowing out of the ground, it was difficult simply walking through the area, let alone the amount of problems they'd have when they brought the carts up here to taking away debris and bring in building materials. Deciding I should probably use a few shouts anyway to check if everything was in order after almost having my throat ripped out, I went into a deep meditation and focused on the understandings for Nature Control.

 **"Feykro Kod Mulaag"**

With the sounds of twisting bark, grinding stone and shifting dirt, the roots of the Gildergreen and the surrounding plant life returned to beneath the soil. Good. Nothing seemed damaged and everything worked fine. Deciding I may as well finish the job, I changed my meditation to focus on Stone Raise.

 **"Golz Kopraan Whalaan"**

Stone shifted like water as rock and earth flowed at my command, filling in craters and holes across the plaza and then sealing cracks and breaks in the surface. Spears of rock and piles of broken stone melted and sank into the liquid-like surface of the plaza. Once the surface was smooth again, I fused the stone into square slabs, allowing easy removal if they wished to later. Just for a bit of fun and to test the edge of my control, I influenced the density of the surface of the slabs and twisted the stones surface as it compacted, producing dozens of different spiral patterns at once on many of the slabs across the plaza.

Opening my eyes and grumbling on why my shouts couldn't be as controllable or far reaching in combat, I admired my handy work. As the two shouts only effected living plants and stone or earth, there was still a lot of debris from the destroyed buildings or broken branches lying about. Most of the plaza would also still need a good wash or sweep to remove the soot and dust. In other words, shit still needed to be cleaned up.

"Amazing...so this is the power of a realized thu'um."

Turning around, I found Jarl Balgruuf standing on the stairs up to Dragonsreach at about level with my head. It was actually kind of nice to be on eye level with someone and not feel like your looking down on them.

 **"Greetings Jarl of Whiterun. I saw the process of rebuilding this city had begun and merely desired to help rebuild some of the damage I may have caused."**

"Nonsense great servant of Talos. Without you we would most likely have lost the city before the dragonborn arrived. Many of my people now owe their lives and homes to you."

Looking out across they plaza, I still felt a twinge of self-blame seeing so many people picking through the ruins. Though it couldn't be seen from the plaza, I also knew that the first of the funerals and ceremonies to commemorate and farewell those who had fallen during the battle were taking place today.

 **"It still does not change the fact that homes and livelihoods were destroyed and many lives were lost."**

"Aye that is true. But homes can be rebuilt, tools can be re-forged, shops can be reopened, workshops can be replaced and as long as we remember them, our loved ones will never truly die. I just hope this is the last time I see my people piece together their lives."

Turning back to the Jarl, I saw that he expression was one of sadness and worry.

 **"The war?"**

He nodded gravely.

"I fear for my people. With our position at the heart of Skyrim, it is inevitable that conflict shall arise over my hold. As such a melting pot of ideals and people, no matter who gains control of Whiterun, I know that at least some of my people will suffer."

Sighing deeply he continued.

"After already being weakened by the civil war and now these dragon attacks, I barely posses the forces to protect the towns and villages of my hold against bandits and other monsters that roam the wilderness. Against a Stormcloak attack, Whiterun would be too weak to hold them back. I would have to call for aid from the imperial legion, but doing so leaves me indebted to them and I have few doubts that general Tulius would see Whiterun's call for defensive aid as an excuse to push into the other holds. At the same time, greater Imperial influence will allow the Thalmor a stronger presence in my Hold. Conversely, the longer I hold off on calling for aid, the risk increases that when the Stormcloaks do attack, the legions may not arrive to support us in time."

 **"To be damned if you do, to be damned if you don't.**

"Yes...very much so."

He looked melancholic for a few moments and looked sadly down at the destroyed shrine of Talos and the giant crater I left in the hillside after flying through it.

"You know...when I was a little boy, my mother was a devout worshipper of Talos. When I became a man and went off adventuring, one of the things I always carried with me was an amulet of Talos. Whenever I felt homesick I could hold that amulet and it would feel like I was back home listening to my mother's prayers again. I visited many of the great shrines to the Divines around Skyrim and one of the things I always thought would be nice was if Whiterun gained a proper shrine to Talos. After the White-Gold Concordat I only managed to have the statue saved by saying it was an important cultural landmark of the city, not a shrine. For many years all we have had was this small statue and only later did Heimskr make and bless the shrine in front of it."

I knew that despite Whiterun supporting the Imperials, Balgruuf was a worshipper of Talos in private and the loss of the statue seemed to have hit him slightly on some level. Looking at the gap in the hillside that was large enough for me to lie in, I had an idea. Entering a deep meditation trance again, I repeated what I did earlier only this time my goal was to create something far more complex than a simple plaza repair.

 **"Sah Kaal Fen"**

The Valkyries were originally been intended for war, but they also had hands and that was good enough for me.

 **"All of you scatter and search the destroyed houses and debris for any small plants that can be saved and re-planted."**

Leaving the Valkyries to carry out my orders, I then returned to the trance and called forth a different shout.

 **"Golz Kopraan Whalaan"**

The rock and stone was mine to command and the first order of business was excavations and foundations. The walls of the crater first widened and grew before straightening and becoming vertical. Stones rose out of the earth and then shaped themselves into long pillars before being driven into the earth leaving half their height in the ground and the other half above.. Summoning forth more stone, I manipulated and flowed this lot onto the ground between the pillars creating a basic stone floor.

The next part involved creating many stone planter boxes along the side walls, which then filled with dirt. Between every second row of planter boxes, a small channel formed and then flowed around the walls to come together as fountains which set themselves on either side of the now forming stone arch ways that would hold the entrance doors. Running into the hillside, small pipes of stone tapped into the waterfalls outside Dragonsreach to provide water for the channels and fountains. A set of drains in each fountain would then carry the water outside and rejoin the flow of water in the streams around the Gildergreen. At the end of the structure set against what would become the back wall, the floor rose and became a raised semi-circular stage with a large stone dais, on the front of which was the symbol of Talos. Behind this stage, stone flowed and molded between the pillars before retracting inwards leaving a number of large alcoves, ready to receive lighting braziers, store books, hold scrolls, incense, lamps and anything else needed to run a Temple of Talos. With a final command, stone beams laid themselves across the roof and small slabs of stone overlapped and the fused to create a steepled roof of stone tiles.

Finally the Valkyries returned and began placing their salvaged plants and shrubs in the planter boxes arranged around the walls. A quick use of Control Nature to made them grow and become used to their new homes. It was now time for some finishing touches. Using Stone raise, I began to carve famous scenes of Talos' life and deeds of his hero's into the walls. It was halfway through this process that I realized _I had no idea how or what half the stuff I was carving was about but I was doing so with ease._

With a final few commands, the floor took on a marbled pattern, the symbol of Talos carved itself into the outside wall above the entrance, Stone molded and flowed into three meter high amulet of Talos on the roof and a replica of the original statue formed in the largest alcove at the back of the stage. There was no glass in the windows, nor doors or furniture due to me lacking any ways to reproduce them but it was never the less, a rather peaceful temple, with it's open airy feel, the plants surrounding the side walls and windows, the sound of water running and the and a strange feeling of there being something protective watching over the place.

 _Devotion and faith are to be rewarded. But like wise, fanaticism is not the true way of the devout. Speak and both reward and warn him._

Turning around, I found I now had a larger crowd of on lookers now than just the Jarl. At the front of the crowd was Heimskr. Having just seen his place of worship and faith go from a single, mostly ignored statute, to a dragon filled crater, and now to this small temple in the span of a few days, it was understandable why his jaw looked like it would drop off if it opened any further.

"I...what...but...by Talos how?"

 **"Come forward Heimskr, fellow servant of Talos."**

He nodded dumbly, still in shock.

 **"Heimskr. For many years you have been faithful to Talos. In the cold depths of winter you have prayed for others and cared for those less fortunate in his name. In the summers, you have blessed the fields and asked for the protection of the workers of the land, to keep them safe from the dangers of bandits and their ilk. Under the risk of execution you have continued to remain faithful. Even with you're life at risk, you have conducted sermons, blessed new borns, joined lovers in marriage and farewelled the dead. For these reasons Talos recognizes your loyalty. And so Talos rewards you."**

"I...I...thank you! All my life...to be actually rewarded!...this is...unreal! It's amazing it's-"

 **"Heimskr. I was not finished."**

"-unbelievable and I...oh, my apologies Messenger."

"Talos recognizes and rewards you, but as his Will, I must also warn you. Fanatical rants and demonstrations are not the way of Talos. It would do you well to remember that your devotion to Talos is displayed in what you do, not what you say. The way of Talos is to protect and guide those who require aid. Not scream at passers by and the Gildergreen for most of the day. A day that could be better spent performing healings. A day that could be better spent sheltering caring for the newly made homeless. A day that could be better spent helping those who have lost family move on and find a way through their grief. A day that could be better spent teaching the curious and uninitiated. Do you understand Heimskr, Preist of Talos?"

"Yes...yes...I understand. And thank you. I...I see now I have been blinded by my anger and hatred of the Thalmor. When I should have been helping others, I have been trying to help Talos."

He looked up at me and looked almost ready to cry.

"But I never needed to. He already has you to act as his Will. Thank you. Thank you for this."

I nodded.

 **"Come forwards Heimskr. And claim your place as Priest of the Whiterun Temple of Talos."**

As a now openly weeping Heimskr cried tears of joy and entered the new temple, I looked out into the crowd and saw standing next to Jarl Balgruuf, was Erika staring with a expression of amazement not at the new temple, like everybody else, but at me.

 **Journal Entry #24 Teachings**

The day after the creation of the new Temple of Talos, Erika sought me out.

Most of the work pretty much slowed to a crawl for the rest of the day after I built the temple thanks to people generally stopping what they were doing and coming to check the place out. The next day however, the clean up operation was back into full swing.

I had originally thought I would be useful for tearing down buildings which needed to go and dragging debris and refuse away, but things worked out differently. Unlike in the modern world where almost everything that was too damaged to repair would have simply been knocked down and cleared away to be dumped, here everything was turned over, examined and salvaged for the rebuilding process or other purposes if possible. Nothing went to waste. Thatch from the roof tops was set aside for the construction of future roofs, wooden beams and supports could be reused, the hinges and locks from doors and windows could be repurposed, bricks were saved for use in new chimneys and fire places, even nails were torn out of the wood and then hammered straight to be recycled into the next stage of the rebuild.

Even the stuff that couldn't be saved was used for some purpose. Shattered pieces of wood were set aside for firewood come winter, charred and burned wood was sent off to be broken down and cooked into charcoal, twisted metal window and door frames were taken away to be melted down and then crafted into new objects and broken or shattered stones and bricks could be broken down into gravel or cobblestones for roads and footpaths. Seeing as the clean up involved a lot more delicate work and salvage of various parts of houses and wreckage, I decided to find something I could be of more use with.

The Temple of Kynareth was lucky to be still standing and was in urgent need of repair and reinforcement. But first the Temple's belongings and other sacred objects that were stored within, needed to be removed. After some discussion, Heimskr offered up part of the Temple of Talos as a temporary home for the priests and priestesses of Kynareth as well as their worshippers and Temple's religious artifacts. Leaving behind the Valkyries to help with the task of carrying everything across the plaza between the two temples, I then went in search of something productive I could do to help.

Outside the city, I found the slowly growing camp that would be the homes of a number of the Cloud district's residents for the months to come. Already though they were experiencing problems. These were very simple tents that afforded little shelter from the colder elements and looked like they could be knocked down in a stiff breeze. And they were already running out of tents. It was lucky they had the number that was already here. Apparently years ago, Jarl Balgruuf had seen in a fit of foresight, the wisdom of keeping many of the Hold guards travel tents in Dragonsreach's basement once they were no longer considered useable, for use as emergency shelters for whenever Whiterun or the surrounding countryside required them. It was a decent plan, but would only work during the spring and summer months.

Deciding that this was a problem I could help with, I then spent most of the day constructing simple stone igloo-like shelters. Sometime around the late afternoon was when Erika found me.

The dust and soot on her clothes and face told me she had probably been working all day, helping with the clean up effort amongst the burned down houses surrounding the plaza. She no longer wore her armor and instead wore simple work clothes, heavy boots and hide gloves. Following behind her was Lydia in an similar state of mess and dirt. Finishing the latest group of shelters I was working on, I turned to the two of them and nodded in acknowledgement.

 **"Drem Yol Lok. Greetings Dovakiin and housecarl of Red-Leif."**

"Greetings to you too Fendotalos. Messenger and Will of Talos."

I smiled and then raised another group of shelters before turning back to her.

 **"Tell me young dragonborn. What reasons call you to seek me out."**

"Respectfully great one, if I may ask you a few questions?"

 **"Ahhh, the thu'um I used to create the temple yesterday. The same one I now use to create these shelters. You wish to enquire about it, yes?"**

"Yes. I wish to...I mean I was wondering...er...would it be okay...er..."

I laughed and motioned for her to stop.

 **"Slow yourself young Erika and collect your thoughts. Now tell me, what is it you wish to enquire about."**

She took a deep breath and then looked at me.

"Can you teach me how to shout like that?"

I raised a scaly eye-brow and considered things. On the one hand, was I qualified to teach her? Normally dragonborns were taught by the Greybeards and Paarthurnax who spent most of their lives dedicated to learning about thu'ums and the Way of the Voice. Also I was not sure how differently the learning process and curve would be due to myself being a dragon and her being a dragon soul in a human body. I didn't know how to do the memory-transfer thing, so no instant shout downloads either. Then again, I knew enough to probably teach her the basics and set her down her path so when she eventually meets Paarthurnax, she could learn more easily. Plus, knowledge of the malleability of shouts and the creation process, might help her with her own.

 **"Very well. I shall teach you some of what I know-"**

"Yes! Thank you! Thank you!"

 **"But before I can teach you I need to know where your knowledge of the dragon tongue and thu'ums stands."**

At this she looked disheartened and slightly upset.

 **"What is wrong dragonborn?"**

"ionlyknowtwo"

"Pardon?"

"I SAID I ONLY KNOW TWO YOU BIG STUPID LIZARD!"

Suddenly she looked upset and ready to cry. She didn't look like the future savior and badass warrior of Skyrim and Tamriel. She looked like a young woman who in the space of a few months, had literally had the hopes and prayers of a world thrown upon her. Lydia was looking around awkwardly and I noticed more than a few people seemed to be wondering what Erika's outburst was about.  
Noticing a secluded grove of trees nearby, I nodded towards it.

"Perhaps...it would be best if we took this elsewhere."

She nodded and still looking hurt and angry followed me into the grove. As I looked back, I noticed Lydia directing curious on lookers back to work and then standing guard outside the grove. Once inside and with the privacy of being away from listening ears, I sat down and motioned for Erika to do so as well.

 **"Tell me Erika. What is it that ails you?"**

She stared up at the sky for a few moments, obviously trying hold back her tears and anger. Then she took a deep breath and began.

"Half a year ago I lived in a small border town called Halfnir. My days were filled with helping my father with the forge and helping my brothers train to become part of the local guard. One day my father needed something picked up from a town on the Cyrodiil side of the border."

She laughed mirthlessly.

"Sometimes I feel horrible for wishing I had never volunteered to pick it up for him... Deciding to take a shortcut using some old mountain tracks, I ran straight into an Imperial ambush set up to capture Ulfric Stormcloak."

 **"And then Helgen happened."**

She clenched her fists and grimaced, closing her eyes and obviously trying not to hear or see remembered sights.

"It...dear gods why? Why that town...why those people...why did I have to see those things...hear them die like that..."

She wiped her eyes angrily and continued.

"After escaping with an Imperial and a Stormcloak, the three of us traveled to Riverwood and then went our separate ways. They may have hated each other, but after what we saw, they new what was at stake. Hadvar went to warn the Legion, Ralof went to warn the Stormcloak forces and I went to warn Whiterun."

She looked back through the grove to where the upper levels of the city could be seen to the trees.

"Jarl Balgruuf is a good man, but I should have known that I was sealing my fate when I agreed to do that favor for Farengar and went barrow-diving for that stupid stone. I wonder what would have happened if I had simply turned away. If I hadn't bothered to fight all those draugr. If I hadn't looked at that damn wall. Almost as soon as I got back to Whiterun, that dragon attacked the watchtower."

Her knuckles whitened from the force with which she gripped her knees and gazed ahead with a thousand yard stare.

"It was Helgen all over again. That fucking monster knocked over the tower set the fields on fire and killed almost everyone except for Irileth, a few other guards and me. And then as if the nightmare wouldn't end, when we finally killed it...it..."

She held her hand to her heart as if felling for something.

"And then the Greybeards called me."

Now she started crying in earnest.

"Why me? What was so notable about me? I wasn't the only person to survive Helgen. Was it my birth? What made me so important as to be born with a dragon soul?! I never wanted this! I was happy with my life! I never wanted adventure! I Never wanted to spend my days fighting for my life, fearing that some fucking monster is going to dive out of the sky and kill me!"

Unsure what to do, I gently raised a wing and awkwardly tried to comfort her using a dew-claw to pat her on the shoulder. Instead she latched onto it and started pouring her eyes out now and releasing what was probably months of built up fears and terrors from the destiny that had be pushed upon her.

"I haven't been home in months! My family probably thinks I'm dead! I have to save the world from fucking dragons but I've only mastered one shout! How in oblivion am I supposed to do this! I saw what that other dragon could do and how you fought it! I saw what you did to create that temple! How am I supposed to survive! I don't want to die doing this! Oh Divines please, I don't want to die!"

 **"It is okay to be afraid. To acknowledge your fear is to know you are alive. Know it but do not let it control you. Do not blindly hold it in. Let it all out. You'll feel better afterwards."**

For the next twenty or so minutes she slowly cried herself near to the point of exhaustion into my dew-claw. She raged at why did she have to be chosen for this task. She pleaded if the was anybody else who could do this. she cried out for help with this great trail. She prayed for protection and guidance.

"...why did it have to be me fate chose."

I sighed.

 **"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."**

She gave another small sob and murmured something incomprehensible into my claw.

 **"Do not fear Erika. I shall teach what I know. I shall do my best to protect and guide you."**

 **Journal Entry #25 Understanding the Voice**

After Erika finally fell into an emotionally exhausted sleep, I called for Lydia and instructed the loyal housecarl to take Erika back to Whiterun. I then told Lydia that when Erika felt prepared to learn, she could find me in this same grove during the afternoons.

The next day was once again filled with me summoning the Valkyries and ordering them to help out where they could while I searched out for something constructive to do. Eventually I ended up spending the first half of the day creating stone supports and beams that would help hold up the Temple of Kynareth as they removed and replaced the damaged walls and load bearing columns.

The second half of the day was filled up when Heimskr and I were asked to say a few prayers and rights of Talos over the bodies of some of those killed in the battle, before their remains were interred or returned to their homes. Thankfully I had read and memorized many of the required passages and actions that would be used in this sort of situation months ago after Morthal. Most of those we were asked to conduct the prayers over were Nord, but there were still many that broke the stereotype.

A captain amongst the Imperial regiment that helped provide archer support in the battle. A bosmer adventurer who had been passing through with his friends. A redguard who had worked as a traveling trader. A argonian who owned and operated his own local restaurant. A altmer who had never done anything in his life aside from working the land and had volunteered to provide scroll-barrage support from the roof of Jorrvaskr simply because his in-born ability to use magic more easily would allow him to use scrolls more rapidly.

It was another example of how this was not the scripted, relatively black, white and gray world of the game. This was a world of people, each with their own lives and stories to tell. Families and friends would morn the passing of these people. Even if good won and evil was defeated, this was the kind of world were children would be born, lives would be lived, lovers would experience both love and loss and all things would eventually find an ending.

Strangely enough, I found these thoughts humbling as well as sad. As a dova, I now had the potential to out last empires, and if my aspect as the Will of Talos continued to grow, perhaps even Mundus itself. And yet in the span of a few decades, stories and lives, both epic and small could be created and played out.

Afterwards, I found I had much on my mind and decided to spend the last hour meditating in the grove, waiting for Erika to possibly arrive. As I waited, I began to plan out what to teach her first and how to go about doing so.

Eventually footsteps entering the silent grove, I waited until she was nearby and the only sounds were the whispers of the trees, the trickle of a nearby stream and my slow breaths.

 **"Drem Yol Lok Erika Red-Leif. I pray you feel better this day."**

Opening my eyes, I saw her looking slightly awkward and rubbing the back of her neck.

"I...Thank you. I want to apologies for yesterday. I...I shouldn't have been like that. I -"

 **"Nonsense Erika. To feel such emotions is what makes us what we are. Fear. Anger. Sadness. We place such stigma on showing them that sometimes we forget the best medicine can be a parent to assuage our fears, a friend to calm us in our anger and a loved one to take away our sadness."**

"But I..."

She looked down.

"I am the dragonborn. I should be better than this. I have to..."

 **"It is okay to feel these emotions. All great beings feel them no matter how they act or display themselves."**

Easing myself up, I walked forwards and gently used the dew-claw of my wing to lift up her chin and look into her eyes.

 **"Erika. Even I feel fear. I often do. I fear for the lives of those around me. I fear what may happen if I fail in my duties. I sometimes fear for the sake of Tamriel. I fear for my own life."**

"How do you deal with it?"

 **"I acknowledge it. I face it. I use my fears as stepping stones and road markers on the paths to improving myself and defeating my them. By doing so I do not let fear control and weaken me. I use it to motivate myself to become strong enough that I no longer need to fear."**

"But I'm not strong enough! I only have two incomplete shouts I can use!"

 **"Right now that is true, but what about in the future? I was not always as powerful as I am now. When I first entered this world I could barely walk, let alone fly. I had to learn and survive many failures before I was able to experience the winds of Skyrim under my wings. I did not always have the range of thu'ums I can call forth today. In my first battle against another dragon, one much weaker than the one we defeated, I barely survived. When I felt at my lowest and most lost, I never stopped, never gave in and fought to bring myself to where I am today.**

What about you Erika? Will you while away and do nothing, waiting for your enemies to come for you? Or will you train? Train hard and train well in both body and mind, so when your foes are at your gates, and the odds are against you, if you must die you will make them earn the right to kill you.

Shall you tremble in fear before them, or shall you give them a fight that will have the warriors of Sovengard themselves line up to meet you? What say you Erika Red-Leif? What say you?"

She looked up determined. In her eyes I could see she would give it her all. She wouldn't cower when her end came for her.

"I want to become stronger. I want to face my fear. If I must die, I want to die driving a sword through it's wretched heart! I want it to know and fear me as much as I fear it!"

 **"Good Erika, good. Finding your drive to grow and succeed is the first step in your training."  
**  
Turning around and making my way to the center of the grove, I then sat down and gestured for her to do the same.

 **"Tell me Erika. What do you think is the most important part of a thu'um?"**

"The...words?"

I smiled and shook my head.

 **"Close, but sadly that is a common misconception. The truest and most powerful part of a thu'um is your "understanding" behind the words you use."**

She looked confusedly at me.

"The words..."

I nodded in return.

 **"Under normal conditions, before truly teaching an initiate in the nature of thu'um or the Way of the Voice, the Greybeards would task the initiate in retrieving the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller from his tomb. I am not the Greybeards and the horn was stolen recently anyway."**

"Wait what! But then what am I supposed to tell the Greybeards!"

 **"Do not worry about the horn Erika. I have a feeling that this is not the end for such an important ancient artifact. It may not be powerful in it's own right but it has a long history with users of the thu'um and dragonborn. It's location will probably be revealed in time."**

All I had to worry about was figuring out a legitimate reason for going to Riverwood, preferably after Delphine had returned with the horn. Erika just bit her lip and looked worried for a moment, before turning back and nodding for me to continue.

 **"The three words of a thu'um can serve as focali or commands and effects for a shout to take on, but the most powerful dragons are often the ones with the greatest knowledge and understanding for how to make their shouts effects greater.**

 **Understanding a shout is not as simple as "the flame burns" or the "ice freezes". By understanding what are often simply concepts, representations, beliefs and actions around a shout, you can make these things a reality and gain greater results than you normally would."**

"So when the Greybeards told me to visualize things when I thought of words, they were trying to teach me some of these understandings?"

 **"Exactly. As the dovakiin, your draconic soul finds it more natural and easier than that of a mortal to learn thu'um and words of the dragon tongue. But that is only the bare bones needed to shout. You can shout "Fear" "Run" "Terror" at your enemies but if you don't understand how the words are related to the effects you want to cause, then your foes will not feel very fearful or terrified."**

"So by visualizing and knowing how I want something to happen, I can then cause my shout to act that way?"

 **"In generalized terms, yes. The hardest part about using thu'ums and the reason why many fail is that most lack these "understandings" or know how to alter them before hand."**

"I'm getting that there's something more to this whole "knowing" and "understanding" thing, otherwise everyone would be learning how to shout."

I laughed and smiled before continuing.

 **"An astute observation. It is not simply a matter of "I want the fire to burn him". You need to understand how all the words react to one another. And it must be a belief that comes from within. This is one of the other reasons the thu'um is so hard to teach. No two people's points of views or understanding of something are truly the same. While they may often produce the same effects, few dragons thu'ums work the same way."**

 **"Lets use ourselves for an example. What do you think of when I say the word "Force"?**

A thoughtful expression passed over Erika's face as she considered my question.

"Pushing. Movement. Power. Something being forced away from me. Violence."

I nodded and then spoke.

 **"I imagine force as something which is constantly moving and happening around us. From the blows of our fists to the breaths we exhale, we are enacting force upon the world. And likewise, the world enacts force upon us. It pushes us with it's wind. It pulls us with the rushing river. It bends the trees in the gentle breeze. To control force is to recognize it is like a rippling pool of interactions and sometimes the best action is an indirect one."**

Erika looked both slightly confused and amazed at what was probably a rather strange thought process to her.

"How...what...is...is that really what it hinges on? Extending your belief in why it should work like that? If so, how would I go about doing so. I know I could maybe study books, but you said it had to be a belief that comes from within. How would I find this belief?"

 **"There are a number of ways to acquire true belief or deeper understanding of a thu'um. Deep and meaningful meditations on words are one way to go about this. You focus on the word, feel it and visualize it in your mind. Listen to it. See how it works. How does it react and what can the word do? How does it link with other words? What do you think of when you speak it? What does it remind you of? Meditation is the route most often taken when learning and trying to understand a thu'um."**

"You mentioned other ways?"

 **"Yes. Sadly the technique of "sharing" the words and understands that one holds in their soul is unavailable to me as I never had the chance to learn it. It was what the Greybeards would have done if they taught you any new words."**

"Yeah, they did something like when I absorbed those dragons' souls only if didn't feel the same. Were there any other ways?"

I nodded and looked serious.

 **"The third and final way of learning new understandings is only available to those with the souls of a dova. If one dova kills another, they can absorb the formless soul and bring about a true death for the defeated. In the process of doing so, the victor can retrieve and learn things from the memories and soul of the defeated. This includes understandings and words for various shouts the defeated may have known or mastered. Usually however, it takes time for this new knowledge to be assimilated and the easiest way to access it as soon as possible is to meditate on what you feel you may have learned or gained."**

At this news, Erika frowned and looked thoughtful before becoming excited.

"So the information of the two dragon souls I've already consumed should actually be available to me? You said I had to meditate on it right? How do I do so?"

I grinned and slowly took up a meditation position.

 **"First you shall need to chose a word Erika. Tell me which calls to you most. "Fus", "Feim" or "Yol"."**

 **Journal Entry #26 Do or Do not.**

For the next few days, my time was spent sending the Valkyries off to work, before then spending my time in the grove teaching Erika how to meditate and slowly but surely increase her understandings and knowledge surrounding her thu'um.

I did not want to push her too quickly so the first lessons I taught her were based around teaching her how to properly use and empower the two words of Unrelenting Force already she knew. Meditation also served a second purpose as I recognized that though she may have sworn herself to face her fears, these meditation lessons would help serve as a point of balance and a rock for her in future. A way for her to clam and collect herself and through the meditation, see and remember that there is still a way to fight and succeed. Thankfully her progress was rapid and so in five days I deemed her to have a good enough understanding of "Fus" and "Ro" to advance to the next lesson.

 **"You have made much progress Erika. You truly are the dovakiin. With how quickly you have advanced, I believe you are now ready to learn the final word of Unrelenting Force."**

She looked elated at that news and I could partially understand why. After many of our conversations and discussions, I knew she saw this as something of a mile-stone. She had been the dragonborn for more than seven and a half months now, and yet she still had yet to completely learn, let alone master, a shout. In a way she had elevated this to almost like a mark coming-of-age. Learning a complete shout would prove she could make it. That she could survive.

"Really? I'm really ready for the next step?"

 **"In deed Erika. While you still have much potential to grow with your own understandings of Force and Balance, you now have enough of a grasp of them that you are more than capable of doing so. For this reason, I believe that it would be easier for you to find what understandings you must develop and know if I teach you the final word now. You would then have a basic idea of all three and from there, can focus and build on that."**

She nodded and straightened, returning to her meditation position in anticipation. She had quickly picked up on the importance and regularity of how often I would have her meditate and had begun bringing a small blanket which she would spread on the ground and sit on during the course of our lessons. In the last two days, she had begun to quietly join me in meditation for a few minutes when she entered the grove and would find me already meditating as I waited for her.

 **"The final word in Unrelenting Force is "Dah". In dragon tongue this is push. With Force delivered to you enemies and their Balance as well as their balance amongst the world upset, the final word allows you to Push your foes using the power of your thu'um."**

In what had become another ritual of ours while meditating, after asking her a word or telling her one, I would have her tell me what it brought to her mind upon saying it. It soon progressed where I could simply say a word or she could speak it and we would share our own understandings of it. This helped to advance her own understandings, give her new ideas and concepts through the introduction of my own and lastly begin the slow process of teaching her the dragon-tongue.

"Push. I see my enemies being forced away-"

Her eyes lit up at potentially having already discovered an way to have Push chain into and interact with Force and Balance.

"- I see the tree being pushed by the wind. A child splashes in the stream, making waves as he pushes the water. I see my father pushing air into the furnace using bellows. I see my brothers jokingly push against a log, causing a toppled giant of the forest to roll down a hillside, such a small amount of force being the beginning of such a great objects destructive and rapid journey to the bottom of the hill."

She opened her eyes and I nodded sagely at her observations before returning with my own.

 **"To Push something is a result of Force and just like force, it is both everywhere and indirect in its effects and actions. Push the wind and the winds will push the leaves. Push the boulder and the boulder will push aside all in it's path. But just like Force, the world can push back at you. The blizzard Pushes the icy winds and cold sleet into your face. It pushes the gentle summers breeze through your clothes. It Pushes us to drive ourselves and survive. To Push requires a knowledge of the Force you wish to exert upon the world and the Balance of that which will be effected. It is a Balance of Force."**

Through out it all, I always impressed upon her that there was no real "right" or "wrong" understandings behind a shout. No two beings ever created the same effects and sometimes even the smallest difference ones perspective could lead to the greatest effects. What I did with her was simply a sharing of these perspectives. Some she might not understand, but others could help provide a basis for her to grow and create her own.

For many long minutes we sat there meditating. Her eyes were closed and her brow furrowed in concentration, but eventually her expression eased when she found herself in the true peace and embrace of the trance. With a final deep breath, she exhaled and stood up. A short distance away outside the grove was a pile of collapsed rotting trees and rocks. As I had helped her with "Fus" and "Ro", she had begun to train and use her thu'ums here rather than within the grove. It was an unspoken agreement we had both come upon that the grove was to be a place of peace, learning and meditation, and we would do our best to keep it pristine and undamaged.

Choosing a particular tree, Erika stood a distance away and slowly inhaled and exhaled. I had told her that when training her thu'um, focusing and feeling for the understandings needed to empower them before shout would eventually allow her to recall them and shout faster in battle. Breathing in deeply a final time, she then took one step forward and shouted as hard as she could.

"Fus Ro Dah!"

The tree shuddered and shook, rotten branches and bark broke off, but I could tell that there was no "Push". Taken a back at the lack of sudden new power, Erika tried again. When the second time produced no results, she meditated again before trying. Innumerable shouts later and while the tree now rested at an angle and was missing all of it's branches and most of it's bark, it had not been "Pushed".

Collapsing to her knees Erika stared glumly at the ground.

"Damnit. The divines hate me don't they?"

 **"I would not be so sure. All of your previous shouts have been learned through the transfer of someone else's knowledge. It is not that surprising you are finding it difficult to learn a shout, simply using your own knowledge and understanding for the first time."**

"Great. So not only am I a weak dragonborn, I can't even learn properly by myself."

 **"Erika, I had a great many failures when learning my own shouts. I had a great many others helping me, all of us with only the barest experience from watching others. To learn and create my own shouts takes me weeks of experimentation and development. For how far you have advanced, constantly on the road and with such little true tutoring, you are progressing remarkably well."**

"But I need to do better! I have to be better or else! I need to try harder!"

I exhaled slowly and motioned for her to start meditating. When she finally opened her eyes and walked towards the tree again, I spoke.

 **"A wise old master, from the one of the greatest legends of my homeland once said, "Do or do not. There is no try."**

She looked at me questioningly for a few moments before standing before the tree, eyes closed and silent. After a few minutes, I realized that this was probably going to take a while. Two minutes became five. Five became ten. Ten turned into twenty. When we hit the half an hour margin, I was beginning to think she had fallen asleep while standing and was wondering if I should wake her up.

 _Don't. Leave her be. She shall find herself soon._

An hour later, Lydia turned up, wondering why her thane was later than usual. Another thirty minutes later and Heimskr came by to ask if I could help him bless some of the incense that would be used in the temple. Two and a half hours after she had begun meditating, the sun set and Lydia and I struck up conversation to stave off boredom. Finally three and a half hours later, as Lydia and I debated on wether it was accurate to apply the mortal understandings of "good" and "evil" to beings as incomprehensible and unfathomable as the daedra, we heard movement from Erika.

Rushing over, we found she had collapsed to her knees, obviously having finally come out of what was probably her equivalent of the first "void" trance I went into after my psychological breakdown post-Morthal. I had come out of that trance with the life-altering determination that I would be more than a simple imposter of Talos' Will. I wondered at what life changing revelations she may have come away from her's with.

 **"Erika!"**

"Erika! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine Lydia. I just...my legs are feeling..."

She looked around in confusion, seeing the two of us and realizing it was now a good many hours into the night. That in the cold and darkness, Lydia and I had stayed by her side. We had not left her alone nor attempted to turn her from her path. We had stuck by her.

"I...thank you. Thank you for not leaving me."

"Why would I leave you Erika?"

I stifled a laugh at Lydia's cluelessness to what had probably been one of the greatest life-changing revelations to Erika in the last few months. She was not alone in this. Lydia was more than just her housecarl and I was more than just some great and mysterious dragon who had deigned to share with her my wisdom. We were her friends and companions and we would stay be her side. Wether it be into the hours of the night or the realms of Oblivion. She was not alone.

"I...help me up Lydia."

Once she was on her feet, she took a few moments for steadying herself before standing back in place before the tree and glancing back at me nervously.

 **"Do or do not Erika. There is no try."**

Giving a determine nod, she gestured for Lydia to back away and stand next to me. She then closed her eyes and began to breath.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The tree was reduced to splinters.

 **Journal Entry #27 Mock Battles.**

"FUS RO DAH!"

 **"YOL!"**

Quickly diving to the ground and rolling to avoid the flames I had summoned, Erik then returned to her feet continued charging at me.

 **"FO!"**

"FEIM ZI!"

Safe in the misty form of Become Ethereal, she passed straight through the miniature blizzard I had summoned before materializing just in time to stab me in the left eye.

 **"Arghh! LIZ"**

To close avoid it completely, she threw up her shield and dived to the side, losing use of that arm when it and her shield became encased in blocks of ice.

 **"Tiid!"**

"WULD NAH!"

Barely escaping a time-enhanced bite from my jaws, she had managed to use Whirlwind sprint not only save herself, but get behind me. Stabbing her sword into my ankle and severing a number of tendons, she then lept backwards to avoid being struck by my tail but also brought herself back into my field of vision.

 **"FUS!"**

Too close and too fast for her to react, he was knocked off her feet and on to the ground.

"YOL"

"WULD SPAAN"

Calling Whirlwind shield into being around herself, the flames of my fire-breath rolled off the shields spiraling surface as she got back to her feet.

 **"ZUN!"**

She was once again unable to dodge and this time lost her sword as Disarm tore it from her grip.

 **"FO!"**

"YOL!"

Ice and fire collided, producing an explosion of steam and smoke between us. When the air cleared, she was no longer in sight.

 **"Erika? Are you-"**

"WULD SPAAN! WULD KEST!"

Looking up, I saw her. She had used the distraction of the smoke to run up a nearby outcrop of rock and springboard off of it. With the activation of Whirlwind Shield and Whirlwind Sprint, she was now hurtling towards me like spinning ball of razor-wind. At least until her concentration broke from trying to cast two shouts one after the other.

As she tumbled through the air, I easily grabbed her in my maw. Lowering my head, I then spat out a now saliva covered dovakiin.

"Urrghhhhh, it stinks in there. Did you really have to catch me with your mouth?"

I chuckled as I sat down and began to heal both of our injuries.

 **"You taste like no sweet-roll either Erika. I have had Thalmor in my mouth that tasted better."**

Off to the side of our training ground, Lydia came forth with a water-skin and towel for Erika.

"You know Erika, there are probably more noble ways to die in battle than attempting to choke a dragon to death from the inside."

She just glared embarrassedly at the two of us and glared at Lydia.

"Well that's what this is for right? Practice. You were the one who recommended this Lydia. Now you never have to worry about me attempting to choke a dragon to death."

 **"Personally I don't think that's bad idea in theory. Most of the more powerful dragons would likely have a way around it, but physically stopping them from vocalizing their thu'ums could have some effect."**

As Erica contemplated the potential for this, I admired the progress that the she had managed to make in this small amount of time. I know thought I knew what a teacher must feel when a student who is eager and willing to learn from them, makes great leaps and bounds as they learn.

She really was the dragonborn. She absorbed whatever I taught her like a sponge. How easily she understood some of the things I taught her and the rate at which she could master new words varied but she was still progressing rapidly. In the space of just a month, her reptile of shouts had and her knowledge of the dragon tongue had made remarkable progress.

Once she had finished mastering Unrelenting Force, I decided to teach her a number of "support" shouts rather than focusing on a few overpowering-damage ones. The reason for this, as I told her, was that her greatest three advantages against a dragon were her size, agility, and allies. The dragon may be bigger than her, but using her size, she can hide to either take a breather and heal or get in close and strike a blow. Being creatures of the skies, dragons just weren't meant to be on the ground. In the sky, the dragon had the advantage of speed and maneuverability, but on the ground that advantage was hers. Finally, dragons rarely ever worked alone. Even when they combined their efforts or were forced to do another's biding, they rarely came in the company of their fellows. Erika had us as well as any other local forces that could be gathered up, where ever we were.

My hope was that I would be with her for any of her other dragon fights, at least until she was strong enough to face them with other allies and not rely as heavily on me. Until then, I would be the big hitter and the focus would be on teaching her shouts that would help her to survive in battle. My plan was to first make her capable of surviving in combat with a dragon, especially since the two cases I had previously seen, Dragonrend seemed to drive dragons into terrified berserker rages. It made them experiance mortality but after meditating on it, I was beginning to believe that the rages and fear were only a side effect of this.

Dragons have no concept or fear of mortality, so what Dragonrend was doing to them was our equivalent of being forced to channel and experience the energies and thoughts of cthulhu-ian, eldritch powers and and beings that are beyond our understandings or comprehension. It was not only killing them physically, but on a mental and soul level as well. A literal case of "Roll For SAN Loss".

My revelations on the side effects of Dragonrend aside, I had slowly introduced Erika to, and taught her the words for most of the in game shouts and a few of my own. The main difficulty in the learning process was that it wasn't like in-game with the instant understanding and concept downloads from word walls, every dragon you killed or whenever you got something from the Greybeards. Here, Erika would have to regularly meditate, train and use her shouts in order to simply use them, let alone become combat-effective with them.

More than once, she would spend hours screaming or shouting at the "training logs" at night without Lydia or I knowing, all in an effort to master a word I had taught her only the day before. We would only notice in the mornings when her voice was hoarse allowing Lydia or I to notice and then reprimand her for pushing herself too hard. I knew she was growing more confident in her abilities, but I also knew she still expected much from herself.

Eventually I told her to only consider a shout combat ready if she could instantly shout and produce the effects of at least two words at a moments notice. Anything less would not do. In my previous fights, I had often missed openings or not used shouts, simply because I could not call upon them fast enough and had to resort to shouting something else in it's place.

Her list of "combat ready" shouts now included Become Ethereal, Elemental Fury, Fire-Breath, Frost Breath Flesh-Bind, Slow Time, Unrelenting Force, Whirlwind Sprint and Whirlwind Shield. As I said, everything to give her more survivability in a fight.

Funnily enough, I was not the one who came up with the idea she should practice dragon-slaying on me. I was so busy teaching her thu'ums and meditation, in order to help her survive in a dragon battleI regretfully forgot the other half of the equation. Killing the damn dragon. Thankfully, it was Lydia who brought up the idea in a innocent enough way.

One day as Erika and Lydia were leaving the grove, Lydia jokingly mentioned that Erika could simply practice slaying dragons with me. I think she actually meant as a joke that the two of us should go and hunt down dragons, with me giving pointers as I killed them, but it got me thinking. After broaching the idea with Erika, she too thought that this would be a sound way for her to gain experience fighting a dragon, without the risk of death.

I was worried at first that this could possibly depress her since there was no way she could "kill" me without help, but if anything, it increased her slowly growing confidence in herself. It gave her a chance to know what to possibly expect. It was the closest she was going to get to "attempting to shout while avoiding becoming lunch for a dragon" . It allowed her to definitively see what worked, what didn't and what she needed to improve on. It became something of her new measuring stick. Every time she could last just a little bit longer against me was another step forwards.

The rules of our bouts were simple enough. I purposely underpowered my shouts and either myself or Lydia could decide wether something was a "fatal" or fight ending attack against a real dragon and fully powered shouts. Erika didn't really have to pull her punches since I could easily take far more damage than she could possibly cause right now.

And that was where we were, a month after her first lesson with me in the grove.

"So you ready for round two?"

I snapped out of my recollections of the past month and looked down to see her grinning as she picked up her now defrosted shield and shook it to remove any water or ice still on its surface.

 **"It would do you well to remember that the Will of Talos is always ready for round two Erika."**

I grinned and returned to my position on the otherwise of the field.

 **"Are you prepared Erika?"**

She brought up her shield and nodded, signaled for Lydia to start counting down.

"Five...Four...Three...Two...One...FIGHT!"

This time we both opened by charging. For almost a minute we dueled, Erika making great use of Become Etheral to pass right through my attacks, Slowly Time to duck in, attack, then retreat and Whirlwind Sprint to dodge and flank me. With the meditations slowly decreasing the "cool down" time she required between each of her shouts, there was potential for her to become a real terror not just in battle with dragons.

Suddenly I heard Lydia cry out.

"Stop! What are you doing!"

For a moment I thought a passing traveller must have seen what was going on and tried to help, so I decided to stop in the middle of my current charge towards Erika. It was a good thing I did because the next thing I knew, there was a person in between Erika and myself, who would have otherwise been crushed. Suddenly there was a glint of steel in my field of vision before it was stabbed into the eye I had only just healed.

"Behind me girl! This is no mere beast! This is a dragon!"

The voice sounded familiar but I couldn't place it due to the distraction of a sword stuck in my eye.

 **"Arrghhh, what in the, argh!"**

"Quickly girl, either hand me your sword or help me slay thi- hey what are yo-!"

As I heard the satisfying sound of somebody being hit over the head with something and dropping to the ground, I healed my eye. When I opened it again, I could see Erika had hit the woman on the head with the pommel of her sword.

A familiar looking woman.

 **Journal Entry #28 Blade BSOD**

When Delphine finally awakened, it would have been bound to a tree and seeing an angry and confused dragonborn standing before holding the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller while behind Erika, Lydia and I had fallen into one of our inane discussions that had evolved from the structure of an eye, to the idea of the multi-verse.

"But that sounds impossible!"

 **"True it may be a difficult concept to at first understand, but the crux of the multi-verse is difference. The further "away" from our realm you get the greater the difference."**

"I still find it hard to believe some of the things you describe exist."

 **"Be as it may, it still doesn't change the fact that the multi-verse exists. I myself have seen worlds were I do not exist. Where you proclaimed yourself housecarl to a different dragonborn. And then there are the more extreme worlds I have seen."**

At this point Delphine finally woke up.

"Divines what are you doing! DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT'S A DRAGON!"

Lydia simply looked at me and shrugged.

"He's the Will of Talos."

I almost laughed at how deadpan Lydia had said that, as if it simply explained everything. Meanwhile Erika now stepped forwards and held up the horn.

"Where did you get this?"

Delphine looked confused at the sudden inquiry and frowned.

"Get what?"

"This horn. It's the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. It's supposed to have been in his tomb. Where did you get it from?"

"I got it off a merchant in Morthal. He said that some adventurers had sold it to him after finding it in the swamps."

She was good, I had to give her that. She played the part of the confused woman who had simply brought some trinket she had not thought was important, well. Sadly it didn't work on Erika or I.

"You lie, I know it. I was told the horn was stolen from Jurgen's tomb months ago."

I nodded in agreement.

 **"The tomb in which the horn resides is closely guarded and it's location is hidden and known to few. I doubt that anybody without purpose would wander as far into the swamps to just "happen" to find Ustengrav and then mange to traverse it's depths."**

She glared at me.

"And what is it to you beast. Why should I tell you or your little thralls where this horn came from. I bet you're trying to start up the dragon cults again. What could you possibly need it for?"

Erika glared and spoke back.

"I need the horn because the Greybeards told me to find it months ago. Why do you have it?!"

At this, Delphine's mind expression became confused.

"But...the Greybeards should have ordered the dragonborn to retrieve the horn?"

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?! I WAS USING THU'UMS WHILE FIGHTING A GOD DAMN DRAGON!"

Delphine's eyes widened in shock. I could see in her mind she was trying to process what was going on and not succeeding very well. 1+2 should = 3 but in this case 1 and 2 did not seem to be attempting to 3 each other to death.

"But that... I... shouldn't... why... dragon... you... she... it... who are you people?"

I was tempted to shout out "The Aristocrats!" but thankfully Erika began the introductions.

"I am Erika Red-Leif of Halfnir. Last of the Dragonborn."

"I am Lydia, housecarl to Erika Red-Leif."

Time to hope she accepted the whole Will of Talos story.

 **"You may know me by my title. I am the Will of Talos. His sword and shield, his herald and messenger of his Will here in Tamriel. I am also the teacher and protector of the dovakiin. You may call me Fendotalos."**

"...buh?"

Huh, apparently we really broke her brain.

"...but you were fighting before. And now you aren't. WHY THE HELL AREN'T YOU TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER!?"

Erika just glanced at me and shrugged.

"We were training. He is teaching me how to fight dragons and giving me an opportunity to practice my shouts while in combat."

Delphine then looked to me. If she looked any more shocked by this turn of events, her jaw would have dropped off.

 **"I serve Talos' Will. Eating the faithful and burning the countryside is a poor way to protect and guide his followers, don't you think? My current task is to protect and teach the dragonborn. It would defeat the purpose of protecting the faithful if everything was destroyed by dragons."**

"But you're a dragon..."

 **"So? Did Talos not learn the ways of the voice from the Greybeards, and presumably Paarthurnax himself?"**

Erika looked at me questioningly the way I had mentioned Paarthurnax's name, but Delphine continued to stare at me.

"But you're a dragon..."

 **"Nafaalilargus allied himself with Talos, a dragonborn, in life. What should it matter that I, his loyal servant, ally myself with the new dragonborn and protect her in his name."**

"But you're a dragon..."

 **"And as you may have forgotten in your purges of our kind, not all of us wished death and destruction upon the races of Nirn."**

"But you're a dragon..."

I frowned and looked at her as Erika knelt down and gently shook Delphine's shoulder.

"But you're a dragon..."

 **"Are you feeling okay?"**

"But you're a dragon..."

Lydia then came over and waved her hand in front of Delphine's face a few times before clicking her fingers a few times.

"But you're a dragon..."

"Erika! How hard did you hit this woman over the head!"

"Only hard enough to knock her out! I didn't want to give her brain-damage!"

"But you're a dragon..."

I laughed before adding my own input

 **"Do not worry for her. I believe she is simply in shock from what she has heard. She will probably come right in a few minutes."**

"But you're a dragon..."

 **Journal Entry #29 Blade to the Dragon**

Deciding we'd leave Delphine tied to the tree for now, Erika and I returned to our training a good distance away, so as not to accidentally catch the Blade in our cross-fire.

Sadly as we were interrupted just minutes later by messenger who told Erika that Jarl Balgruuf wished to speak with her about something. Apparently they now needed to figure out where to store Beinalbahlok's bones and what to do with them as the clean up effort had finally finished and the ancient dragon's corpse was the only thing left to clear. The rebuilding of the damage caused to Whiterun could finally begin in earnest.

Deciding to end her lessons and training there for the day, they told me they'd be back later to check on "the old lady who stole the Horn and stabbed me in the eye". Farewelling them, I decided to meditate in the shade of the tree which they had tied Delphine to.

When I got there, her bonds had been cut and she was missing.

 **"What the?"**

Suddenly I heard rustling in the leaves above my and raised my head just in time to see her throw herself from the upper branches of the tree at my face.

"DIE DRAGON!"

 **"Argghhhh! God, Not the eye again! God why!? Argghhhhh!"**

Shaking my head around wildly, I managed to dislodge her, throwing her to the ground and causing her to once again leave her sword behind in my eye ball.

"Prepare to meet your end beast!"

Pulling out her Elven dagger, she then charged forwards and tried to stab me in my chest. It simply became lodged in my chest armor, without even properly piercing the flesh.

"Damn it!"

Diving for her pack, she then drew a bow and a number of steel arrows. While I doubted she could actually cause me any serious harm, I had had enough of her shit and had no plans of allowing her to turn me into a draconic pin-cushion.

 **"** _ **ENOUGH!**_ **LIZ!"**

Before she could even bring her bow to bare, she was encased from neck to toe in a block of ice. Her eyes widened in fear as she realized this was usually the part in a dragon battle when the dragon-slayer became lunch. Thankfully I was no normal dragon.

That didn't stop me from milking the situation for all it was worth.

Slowly stalking towards her menacingly, she began shaking and rocking back and forth, desperately trying to free herself from the icy prison I had encased her in. When I was close enough for my blood-stained and scarred face to fill her entire vision, I then slowly reared up so I towered over her. Using my dew-claw, I easily flicked her dagger out of the chest plate it had lodged itself in.

Then in a scene truly nightmare fuel worthy, I removed the sword and destroyed eye-ball by clawing them out, leaving a gaping and bloody wound in their place. I was pleased to see, when I worked past the pain enough to glance out my other eye, that she was now staring at me with utmost horror and terror.

 **"Haas Sien Gron"**

Turning my head so that the blood filled cavity faced her, I gave her a front row seat to watching my eye slowly regenerate and reform so that even as it did so, it looked like it was unmoving and had been staring into her very soul the entire time. When the process was finally over, I leaned right over and looked down at her, the blood still dripping and drying off of my face from when the eye was first injured.

 **"Are you ready to be a big girl, act like an adult and listen?"**

She nodded, terror and fear still etched in her features. Slowly stretching out a claw, I nudged the block of ice that encased her, causing it to tip over and shatter on the ground, releasing her. Sitting down, I then watched as she scrambled backwards from me only for her back to connect with a tree trunk. Trapped between me and a tree.

For a minute the was only silence between us. Me calmly staring at her and she, looking at me with wide eyes, awaiting the killing attack or wondering if I was the kind of dragon that liked to play with it's food before eating. Eventually she realized I wasn't going to kill her, at least not yet and asked me a question.

"What...what are you?"

 **"I believe you already know the answer to this question. I am a dovah. A dragon."**

"But...but then..."

 **"Why am I accompanying the dragonborn and teaching her?"**

She nodded.

 **"Because as I explained before, I am the Will of Talos, and it is for that reason I protect her."**

Her confidence was obviously returning to herself as she slowly pushed herself up with her back to the tree.

"Oh really? Then why the dragonborn? Why follow her when there is so much else wrong in the world?"

 **"You question why I do not simply fly to the Thalmor embassy and burn their wretched hive to the ground? Then proceed to rend and burn my way through their forces until the Summerset Isle are no more?"**

She looked at me questioningly and nodded her head again. I then took to the air and began making my way over the trees, towards the center of the grove in which Erika and I would meditate and I would teach her.

 **"Follow me Delphine, last of the Blades. There is much I should explain to you."**

"What! Wait! How do you know that! You shouldn't know those things! Come back! Come back here!"

When she finally found her way through the trees and made it to the secluded open area at the center of the grove, I had assumed a meditation pose and closed my eyes, while listening out for the sounds of her entering through the trees. When she finally entered, I awaited a few moments when I heard her stop moving. She had obviously come through the final screen of trees and upon seeing me meditating, apparently asleep or unaware of what was going on, in an open area, she had assumed something was up. I then opened my eyes and turned to look at her.

 **"Come forward Blade and listen well."**

Cautiously she crept towards until she was before me, but still far enough away that should I attack, she would have time to dodge or run for the trees.

 **"Did you know that even as we speak, there are countless dark plots and schemes taking place, all across Skyrim? Some of them have the power to potentially destroy Skyrim, a few others, potentially a good portion of Tamriel as well."**

Delphine's face froze as she listened to me.

"What..."

 **"Don't you think it says much that in despite all this, I have received no orders from Talos to deviate from my current course of aiding the dragonborn? So many threats, so many dangers and yet this is the task I carry out. What does that tell you?"**

Delphine's face was now utterly pale. She was beginning to understand what I was getting at. Why a dragon was teaching a dragonborn.

"Why...why her? What has happened? It's related to the dragon's isn't it?"

I looked grave as I continued.

 **"I believe that one of the great ancient dragons of old has returned to Nirn. In the past, your order may have exterminated a great many of us, but we were not all dead. Some dragons were imprisoned or cast into other realms over the ages and it is most likely the greatest and most powerful of these dragons has returned. They have been raising dragons from the dead or calling survivors to their cause from all across Skyrim."**

"You...your serious aren't you..."

 **"I am deathly serious about this. With only the dragonborn and myself capable of fighting the dragons at the moment, this is a most dire threat for Skyrim and potentially even Tamriel."**

Delphine narrowed here eyes and scowled suspiciously.

"Why you? Why would Talos come to you for this task?"

 **"Talos came to me for this task for I had already come to Talos."**

She obviously wasn't fully convinced and was silent for a while before asking me her next question.

"How capable is the dragonborn? To be honest she didn't seem very warrior like."

I sighed and looked at her.  
 **  
"I would advise you to drop any plans of trying to make the dragonborn undertake dragon hunts for now. Eight months ago she was the daughter of a blacksmith in a border-town to the south. She only found out she was a dragonborn six months ago and until I found her last month, she had only two fragmented shouts she could use. She has thankfully advanced rapidly and is truly gifted with the thu'um, but she still has much to learn."**

Delphine looked shocked as she processed my words. Then she began to laugh mirtlessly.

"So what you're telling me is that we are facing potentially one of the greatest threats known to Skyrim and the province is already too busy tearing itself to bits, the previous saviors from this threat are now long dead, our current savior who is supposed to defeat this threat was a civilian up until eight months ago, my organization which would normally support her is now an outlawed group with only one surviving member in the region and to top it all off, we could kill the dragons only to die from something else?"

I considered for a moment telling her of Esbern before deciding against it. If he was really needed later, I could always just come up with some mystic way of saying "Oh, turns out he's in the Riften rat-way".

 **"An apt summarization of the situation, but there is still hope for success. Also I would appreciate if you do not act so persimistic around Erika, the dragonborn."**

"Why is that?"

 **"Because when I first met her a month ago, she was a terrified, frustrated and scared young woman, who in only the space of a few months, had been ripped way from all she knew and found familiar, was forced to witness terrible sights that no person her age should see, and been told she is inheritor of a power and destiny that has been for the past few hundred years, the stuff of legends."**

"Oh...right..."

 **"She has come far in her abilities and continues to grow, but right now, the greatest things she needs are companions and allies. Teachers and friends who can help her face the fore-coming storm. She needs confidence and inner-strength to help keep the fires of her will alight."**

Delphine scowled.

"So what? You want me to skip through the fields and pick daisies with her? I don't think so."

I snorted in return.

 **"Don't think I don't know what makes a warrior, Blade. You can have a sword with the sharpest cutting edge, but if the heart of the sword is not strong enough, it will shatter under a heavy blow. No, you can do something else to help young Erika."**

"Wait, what do you mean I will help?"

 **"Do you mean you will leave? I don't think you spent spend thirty years running and hiding from the Thalmor, only to give up because you discover a dragon of all things is already doing part of your job."**

She glared at me.

"I still don't like you."

 **"And you don't have to. But it doesn't change the fact that to face this threat and the ones that will follow after, and believe me there will be others, Erika will need all the help she can get. I can teach and guide her, this is true, but only in the area of thu'ums and dragons. Even then, I would not dare to call myself an expert on these, as there are others with far greater knowledge and experience than me. You can teach her what I can not."**

"...What would you want me to teach her exactly?"

 **"Before the time of the Septim Dynasty, the Blades swore to aid and protect the those who were dragonborn. Erika will eventually need protection from more than just dragons."**

Delphine's eyes narrowed and the hatred positively dripped off her tongue as she spoke.

" _Thalmor_ "

I nodded.

 **"And it won't just be those cursed elves either. She will become a target for many. A powerful ally to have in battle. An associate who can gather popularity for a cause. A political plaything in a governmental game of chess. She is young and naive in the understandings of these things and I have only the barest followings of what goes on in such circles."**

"She'd need somebody to teach her and know what's really going on."

 **"Exactly. Your services and knowledge in these fields are needed, especially in the battlefields of politics and the high-class parties. Like the Blades of the Emperors, you will need to serve as her eyes and ears. To be able to hear and learn of the plots and machinations that would only use her for others gain."**

She once more eyed me suspiciously.

"What is your angle in this dragon. What do you really want out of all this."

 **"The survival of Tamriel and it's people. Is that not the Will of Talos?"**

 _Swear her in. Earn her faith._

I nodded and stood before slowly and non-threateningly walking up to her. I then looked her straight in the eye and asked;

 **"Delphine. Last of the Blades and inheritor of their legacy. Will you swear an oath in service of the dragonborn. To protect and serve her. To follow and aid her. To be her companion and soldier just as your forefathers were. Shall you give her strength when she needs it and lighten her burdens when she requires it. Shall you guide her when the darkness clouds her vision and watch over her in times of hardship. Will you stand by her side when she faces her trials, wether they be small or great. Will you be her sword and shield. Will you be her Blade?"**

She looked up at me, somewhat curious about where this was going.

"Of course."

 **"Then with the power gifted to me as the Will of Talos, I Fendotalos, pronounce that in the year two hundred and one of the fourth era, Delphine of Riverwood, Last of the Blades, was named Grand Master of the Blades of Skyrim under the Dragonborn Erika Red-Leif of Halfnir. So says Talos through me."**

Suddenly the air around us began to flow. A tornado of lights formed around us, golds and oranges spiraling around us with myself and Delphine at the center. For a few seconds, the light grew to almost blinding levels before slowly fading and letting the winds recede to their original gentle breeze.

The look on Delphine's face was priceless.

 **Journal Entry #30 To High Hrothgar**

"I want to return the Horn to the Greybeards."

When Erika and Lydia finally returned, there was an unspoken agreement between Delphine and I. She would not say I had been stabbed in the eye again, and I would not say that the woman who would now be her newest teacher had been easily enough, frozen in a block of ice.

I introduced Delphine as a member of an ancient order who's role in times past was to help protect, guide and serve the dragonborn of old. After clearing up our little "miss-understanding" we had come to an agreement. If Erika accepted, Delphine would help teach her and join her on her quest.

Of course I knew she would accept Delphine's help.

And so for the next week and a half, Erika's lessons gained a new teacher, a number of new subjects and a new timetable. In the mornings she and Lydia would get up, eat and then go for a light run together. They would then come down to the grove where Delphine would begin to teach Erika on the various political entities and groups around Skyrim as well as their goals or beliefs. This would go on for an hour or two while in the background, I would either meditate, Lydia would train, or the two of us would have one of our inane arguments ranging on subjects from what we thought of cats, to favored plants, to wether Markarth or Riften were greater hives of corruption and villainy, to even the subject of Assassins (ninjas) vs Pirates.

Afterwards Delphine and Lydia would train and spar with Erika in the training field. Delphine and I were in agreement that it was just as important that Erika learn to fight humanoid foes as well as dragons and beasts. While in combat Delphine was obviously no longer the spry young woman she had once been, wielding a sword in one hand and her dagger in the other, she could still give as good as she got and dance the dance of death. If there was one thing I definitely respected about Delphine, it was her lifetime's worth of experience and knowledge in dozens of fields. Her teachings would be just as valuable to Erika in future as mine.

After finally stopping, I would heal any injuries they picked up and they would break for lunch. When they returned, I would be meditating in the center of the grove and Erika would quietly join me as was our way of starting our lessons. She would usually meditate on what she had learned from Delphine that morning and after that, slowly find her "center" and calm herself. Once she was ready, I would then teach and help her through whatever part of the current thu'um I had introduced her to, and slowly help her develop and increase her understandings for it.

To finish off the day, Erika would then battle with me, testing what she had learned, and growing experience from having the chance to fight a dragon without the risk of death. Delphine and Lydia would sometimes join in so that in the event of a battle, while they would not be as useful at close range as Erika or I, they would have the experience and knowledge to dodge and escape the dragons wrath.

The relationship between Delphine and myself was a strange one of respect and slight wariness. We both respected each others abilities, especially after she learned of my role during the battle of Whiterun, and after seeing each other's lessons, we knew that neither of our teachings were more important than the other, even if she thought I sometimes did not teach Erika fast enough and was "off with the clouds to often". In return I sometimes thought her to be rather harsh in their spars and clipped with her words. The wariness came from despite the fact that we both recognized and acknowledged how important we would be to Erika and had put aside most of our differences, She was a Blade and I was a dragon. We were opposites, even with our personalities. I was mellow and rock-like in nature, she was sharp and pointed, constantly held ready and wary for threats.

While Erika was at first unsure of Delphine, I think the woman's forwardness and bluntness slowly grew on her. I knew she probably gave a somewhat refreshing difference in her lessons and life from my rather mystical and some what strange roll as the Will of Talos. Delphine was a human and understandable counterpart to my dragonness.

In her mind, I think Erika had begun to think of us as her "stand-in" family. Lydia seemed to take on something of an older sister roll for her when we were not in training, I was the wise grandfather, a rock of knowledge and teachings which she could turn to for guidance and I could already see that in the week and a half Delphine had been with us, that given another month, Delphine would probably be the somewhat harsh but admired aunt. A woman how had been there, done that, almost brought the farm and lived to tell about it. Delphine took no time for bullshit and could see right through it whenever someone tried to give it to her.

And so a week and a half after we first met Delphine, Erika wanted to return the horn to the Graybeards. Of course Delphine was against the idea of "wasting time" and heading for High Hrothgar.

"Why should you even go there? Those old men would simply want you to sit around all day and do nothing. Your learning at a respectable enough rate right now."

I however, paused to consider the prospect.

 **"It is not truly a bad idea. Even if we simply return to drop off the Horn, it would be a chance to converse with the Greybeards and have them evaluate what I have taught her so far as well as how I have done so."**

Delphine snorted

"They would probably be horrified that you've taught her so many shouts, especially the ones that would only be useful for harm.".

 **"I would not be so sure. Even the Greybeards have probably realized the seriousness of the situation after hearing of the return of the dragons. Besides, the finally decision is not ours to make. We are merely teachers and advisors. The finally choice lies with Erika."**

We both turned to look at her as she contemplated our opinions.

"I...I want to drop off the Horn. We can drop it off and stay with the Greybeards for a few days before returning."

Delphine sighed while I gave a respectful nod. Inside I was fist pumping and doing a happy dance. Finally! A chance to head to the Throat of the World. Maybe even meet Paarthurnax.

 **"A wise choice Erika. To seek out the help of the true masters of the Voice will do you well, no matter how short our time spent there is."**

"I still don't think we should waste our time on this, but I'm coming with you anyway. It will be a chance to find out those old fools agendas for you anyway."

Erika looked like she was about to speak back before deciding against it. She had quickly learned that there were some subjects you just couldn't win an argument with Delphine about.

"I want to go. It's just that the trip up the mountain will take so long. I'd have to head to Ivarstead and climb the seven thousand steps again."

I looked up at the peak of the Throat of the World where it could be seen above the tree tops. High Hrothgar was visible from this side of the mountain and after almost three quarters of a year as a dragon, I could easily estimate the distance and travel time.

 **"Do not worry Erika. I believe I may know of a method that will have us on the steps of High Hrothgar within a day or two at most."**

 **Journal Entry #31 Dragon Airlines - Dragonborn Express**

"Fuuuuuuucccccckkkkkkk Meeeeeeeeeee!"

"ohdivines,I'mgonnabesickI'mgonnabesickI'mgonnabesick."

"THIS IS AMAZING!"

I laughed as I listens to the various reactions from the three women tied to my back. While Delphine and Lydia did not seem to take well to Dragon-Air, Erika seemed to have taken to being in the skies like a duck to water. Whooping and hollering, I could feel her leaning back, letting the wind pass over her and rush through her hair, leaving the rope tied around her waist and my chest as the only thing keeping her on my back if she fell.

"Oh Divines! Please don't laugh! Your already moving about enough as it is!"

"Faster! Faster and higher!"

I obliged Erika and slowly leaned back, tilting the angle of my wings and focusing deeper on "Krif Viing Bo". She laughed wildly as the ground which was already far below us began to shrink. Seeing some clouds up ahead and not wanting my passengers to get wet, I gently banked around them, first right, then left, then right again to straighten our course for the slopes of the Throat of the World and the final hundred or so stairs below High Hrothgar.

"Lydia! Are you okay!"

"I think I just threw up a bit in my mou-ERIKA, WHAT IN OBLIVION ARE YOU DOING!?"

Feeling a small amount of weight slowly moving and grasping onto my armored spikes and plates as it travelled from my back, up my neck and then to just behind my head, I realized that Erika must have untied herself and slowly crawled forwards.

She was now laughing joyously and sitting just behind my head, holding onto my horns in a manner reminiscent of a biker.

"THIS!...THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! WE'RE FLYING!"

I grinned and allowed my amusement and enjoyment to travel through my voice.

 **"It is an amazing thing, is it not? To not just touch the sky, but to truly be one with it."**

If there was one thing I definitely didn't regret about becoming a dragon it was this! Then again that could just be a side effect of being a dragon since I while not scared, I never was all that comfortable around great heights when unsupported. Oh well. As Erika so eloquently put it;

"THIS! IS! AWESOME!"

Noticing a giant column of cloud just up ahead, I entered into a slow bank around it, letting my wing lightly touch the surface as I climbed up wards in a spiral around the clouds.

"Can I touch it?"

While I knew that there wasn't really anything to touch in a cloud and the vapor would simply condense and wet her hand, I couldn't resist obliging the sense of wonder in her voice. Slowly tightening my spiral up wards, I immersed my wing and part of my body so that the wisps of vapor that made up the cloud could be lightly felt dampening her hand and sleeve when Erika reached out.

She laughed as if it were the most magical thing in the world.

Finally passing the top of the cloud formation, I dived a little bit to build up some speed again and continue to High Hrothgar.

"Don't do that again! Lydia almost threw up!"

"AGAIN! AGAIN!"

Flapping my wings to quickly gain altitude, I then swooped down once again putting on a quick burst of speed.

"She's right in front of me!"

"KEEP DOING IT!"

Things settled quickly into a roller coaster of ups and downs, quick climbs and rapid dives, and Erika's joy filled laughter and requests to "Go Higher!", "Again!" or "faster this time!". Then she came out with a gem I couldn't possibly ignore.

"DO A BARRLE ROLL!"

Delphine and Lydia screamed as I quickly flicked my wings and rolled, spinning over in the air and dropping down before almost instantly straightening out.

"Don't do that again!"

"LET'S DO THAT AGAIN!"

I however had other plans. Tilting back and aiming for the sky, I flew at an almost near vertical angle as hard and as fast as I could. When my wings began to burn and I felt the air beginning thin, I slowed my climb and stopped flapping once we were almost weightless. For a few moments we hung there, me enjoying the feeling and everybody else to stunned to speak.

Noticing movement in my field of vision, Erika had let go of one of my horns and had leaned forwards, her hand reaching out to the cloudless blue expanse above us to see if she could touch it. Time slowed. And then gravity exerted it's pull.

Cutting my use of "Krif Viing Bo", I folded my wings back and rolled my balance causing me to slowly flip backwards as we began to pick up speed and fall.

The wind whipped and whistled past Erika and I's faces. Our fall rapidly grew in speed as we fell through the skies, straight down to the ground at suicidal speeds from a few thousand meters in the air. Both of us laughed uproariously, our laughter unheard and carried away by the winds as Lydia and Delphine presumably screamed and yelled to pull up. Not done yet, I angled the tips of my still folded back wings, causing us all to go into a slow spin like a white draconic spinning top from the heavens. For almost forty five seconds we fell. Spinning screaming and laughing at it all. A primal mix of both fear and enjoyment.

Then in the last thousand meters to the ground, I spread my wings, angled them to pull us out of the spin and shouted.

 **"KRIF VIING BO!"**

Pulling up until we were running at only a hundred meters above the ground, I used the speed gained from our break neck decent to charge us a blindings speeds over the trees and foot hills of High Hrothgar before slowly changing the angle of my wings to begin climbing and return to our original course and altitude.

Erika was near breathless from screaming and laughing so hard while Delphine felt like she was shacking like a leaf. Strangely Lydia seemed to be holding herself stock still.

"...Never...Ever...EVER!...Do that shit again!"

"Huughhrrrgggbblluuugghhhhhrrrr!"

"Oh gods, it's all over me!"

As I hoped Lydia hadn't also painted me with her lunch, I felt Erika slowly climb up from behind my head and then onto my face itself. Trying to move my head as little as possible, I let her gain her balance as she slowly stood on the head of a dragon, a few hundred meters in the air. We were high enough now that I could catch her if she fell so there wasn't that much risk.

Finally standing up, she then leaned forwards and proclaimed her message to the skies.

"I'M THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD!"

 **Journal Entry #32 Paarthurnax**

When the Greybeards rushed out of High Hrothgar after seeing a dragon land on the final hundred or so steps before the monastery, a peaceful white dragon that respectfully nodded at them, a red-faced dragonborn still whooping from the excitement, a puke covered Delphine, and Lydia practically throwing herself at the ground and kissing it, was probably the last thing they expected to find.

"helloground,Iamneverleavingyouagain!"

"We have to do that again!"

I chuckled as a now highly confused looking Arngeir approached our group.

 **"Do not worry Erika. I have no doubt that I shall be required to bare you to many destinations in future. However I suppose that future our journeys will have to be less..."exciting"."**

Delphine just glared at us and wiped the last of Lydia's lunch off of her armor.

"You two are insane! If humans were meant to fly the divines would have given us wings!"

From the ground Lydia raised a hand and mumbled into the snow.

"dragon souls."

"...that explains so much."

Arngeir finally stood before us and spoke up.

"If I may, who are you? I recognize you Erika Red-Leif and your housecarl, but I do not recognize your other two ...companions?"

I was worried Delphine's distrust of the Greybeards would cause her to act antagonistic towards them and openly declare that she was a Blade, but thankfully she stayed smart and didn't piss them off.

"I am Delphine of Riverwood. A teacher and companion of Erika. We first met in Whiterun."

Arngeir then looked cautiously at me.

"And you are...?"

I bowed my head respectfully in greeting.

 **"You may call me Fendotalos. As the Will of Talos, one of the current tasks I have been given is to help protect and aid the dragonborn, Erika in her quest."**

Arngeir eyed me dubiously but never the less nodded. I had used Fendotalos as my title, meaning that even if it wasn't my name, I must identify or be linked with it in some way. Therefor, there must have been at least some truth to what I said.

"Master Arngeir, I have returned with the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller."

Turning back to Erika, his eyes widened and his confusion grew.

"Well...I suppose we should all head inside first. You obviously have done much during your quest to retrieve the Horn. I would much like to hear how your skills with the Thu'um have progressed."

At this Erika grinned proudly.

"I now know almost ten of them and have nearly all of them mastered and usable with varying degrees of reliability and power."

At this Arngeir's jaw dropped open and he looked at us.

"...what?"

I chuckled at his reaction and then making sure to leak much pride into my voice at her progress, I spoke.

 **"She truly is the dovakiin. She learns words and gains understandings with a rapidness and proficiency few besides the Dovah could match. Even with the time and knowledge I had at hand, it has been my great pleasure to have such a student as Erika."**

"...eh?"

 **"However, I would never dream to call myself an expert on thu'ums, nor the Way of the Voice, so if I may request so, could it be possible to test what she has learned so far. I have taught and guided her through the basics and as much as of each thu'um as I can, but I believe it would be wise to have a true master and teacher of the voice teach her anything I may have missed or failed to introduce her to in her studies."**

Arngeir just stared at me until Delphne spoke up.

"Not to sound rude, but I would really like to get out of this snow and change my cloths before this vomit freezes onto me."

"Ah, yes right, come in, come in, we'll find somewhere for you to change as soon as we are inside."

As everyone entered through the doors of High Hrothgar, Arngeir held the door open and let everyone through before turning to me.

"I...er I must apologize for this but as you can see, there is really no way for you to come in here. You...uh...you wouldn't happen to be fine with the idea of staying out here or in the courtyard would you?"

I chuckled and then glanced upwards in the direction of the peak of the Throat of the World, which was currently hidden in the clouds.

 **"I would be fine simply waiting or meditating in the courtyard. However if I may make one request of you?"**

Looking thankful I was not about to kick up a fuss about being left in the snow, Arngeir enquired as to my request.

 **"There is much that hinges on young Erika. You know this, as do I. My current task is to teach and protect her, but I must admit I am not truly confident in my knowledge being comprehensive enough to teach her in the more advanced areas of the thu'um. Therefor, I wish to seek the advice of the Grandmaster of your order."**

A flash of worry and panic were visible on Arngeirs face before he hid it and examined me closely.

"How do you know of him? His existence is hidden and known only to those he has personally taught. What do you want with him?"

 **"Peace wise master, peace. I seek only the knowledge to help the dragonborn on her path. Surely the greatest master and teacher of the thu'um would be able to guide me, so that I may guide others. I mean him no harm, so swears I Fendotalos."**

For a few moments Arngeir was silent. He stared at me as the cold wind blew between us before speaking.

"All right, you have my permission to visit him. It's obvious you already know his location so telling me you wish to find him helps you in no way if you mean ill. That and you already seem set on trying to aid Erika so there is little to be gained from killing the one who has the most to teach her."

I nodded respectfully before bowing my head in thanks.

"Thank you for allowing me this opportunity."

Backing away from Arngeir and preparing to take flight, I heard the door open and turned to see Erika standing on the steps looking at me.

"Where are you going?"

Though she hid it well, I knew her well enough by now to detect the slight hint of fear that I was leaving her.

 **"Do not worry Erika. There is someone I need to meet. I shall most likely be back before the day is out. I am not leaving for long."**

She nodded and now looked reassured again. Standing at the top of the steps with Arngeir, she then watched as I spread my wings and propelled upwards, using Clear Skies to blow and fly through a momentarily sun filled hole in the layer of clouds and biting cold winds that surrounded the peak.

Upwards I continued, passing through sleet, wind and snow until I reached the path just before Paarthurnax's meditation area just below the peak. Choosing to land here and then enter Paarthurnax's area on foot so I would seem less threatening, I slowly made my way up to the peak.

And there he was, sitting on top of that wall of his. Paarthurnax.

 **"Drem Yol Lok. Greetings Great One. I come in peace seeking advice from the master of the thu'um. I am Fendotalos and I seek your aid."**

Slowly looking up, the old dragon turned his head to face me.

 **"Welcome servant of Talos. It has been long since I had the pleasure of speaking in my own tongue with another of the dov. Yol Toor Shul."**

For a moment I was worried he was trying to kill me, but then I remembered that in-game he mentioned that dragons normally greeted each other by shouting at each other and that the elder traditionally went first. Holding my ground, I let the flames flow over me, only to discover that it was similar to the flames I used against Erica while training. It did not truly burn, but felt heavy of power and strength wielded by the user. At least that's what Erika said. Delphine and Lydia described it as opening a hot oven and bathing in the scalding hot air the was released. Maybe it was a dragon thing.

Once Paarthurnax stopped the flames and my scales began to steam, he nodded at me, obviously the signal to return the favor. I replied.  
 **  
"Yol Toor Shul."**

Releasing my own suppressed thu'um, Paarthurnax seemed to practically bask in the flames, his eyes closed with satisfaction as the fire curled and burned around his form.

 **"** _ **Yessss**_ **. It has been long since I last conversed with another of our kind. To be greeted as a dovah again... It has been far, far to long."**

I bowed respectfully to him.

 **"I am happy to grant you this thing Great Master. To meet you is an honor."**

Paarthurnax chuckled and shuffled on his perch.

 **"I know why you have sought me ought."**

What?

 **"You do? How do you know this?"**

"I believe you have done a wonderful job guiding her in her journey so far. You have taught her the basics of the Way of the Voice and you teach her not just how to shout or fight, but how to properly know and understand her abilities and herself. You teach power, but with moderation. You give her knowledge but with caution. I think that you shall make an appropriate teacher for her until I am required.

Now come forward Fendotalos. We have been waiting for you."

"We?"

Just then, what I had taken to be a snow drift lying against Paarthurnax's Wall began to move and shook itself off.

"Just because M'aiq has seen much does not make M'aiq a messenger capable of fast travel. M'aiq wonders what took you so long. He has been freezing on this mountain for days."

 **Omake:**

As the four of us approached, the aged dragon shifted, opening an eye. Paarthurnax glanced at Erika before locking in on me.

" **Hmmm….You, I do not recognise. Did you decide to change sides this time, or were you one of those who stayed out of the last war?"**

I shrugged at the question. **"Actually, I was not born until long after the last war."**

Paarthurnax sat up. **"I wouldn't have thought such a thing was possible."**

Erika glanced at me. "How could such a thing not be possible?"

"Come to think of it, how do dragons reproduce anyway?" asked Lydia.

Deciding to deal with the easier inquiry first, my voice took on a slightly condescending tone. **"Well Lydia, when a Mother Dragon and a Father Dragon love each other** **very** **much-"**

 **"A completely inaccurate description of Dovah reproduction."** commented Paarthurnax.

Delphine chuckled at something. Ignoring the puzzle of what for the time being, I turned my gaze back to Paarthurnax. **"I was merely making a joke relating to human reproduction in a way that would-"**

Erika interrupted. "As much as we all want to hear what Dragons think about human reproduction, I think we're getting off-track. Can we please discuss matters more relevant to the conversation?"

Paarthurnax nodded. **"Indeed, my apologies. I simply wished to gain some confirmation that the young Dovah here was not allied in some way with the forces of Alduin."** His gaze turned back towards me, implying not-so-subtly that he was still waiting.

I eyed him, weighing up my options. I knew one thing that was likely to convince him, but the last dragon I'd told hadn't reacted well. Still, Paarthurnax wasn't likely to spurn me for it, and in any case it would convince him that I wasn't going to be allying with the forces of Alduin.  
" **Perhaps you may have heard news of my actions of late. The title I am known by these days is 'FENDOTALOS', although my true name is actually JULDOVASIL."**

Paarthurnax stared at me. Then he stared at the three humans. Then he stared at me again. Then he burst out into a low, echo-y chortle. You haven't seen strange until you've seen an Elder Dragon chortle. **"No wonder you know so much about human reproduction!"**

I stared at him for a moment, until the reasoning for his laughter sunk in. **"I…wait…what? NO! Nothing like that! My name doesn't mean anything like THAT!"**

Erika looked between the two of us, asking "Can anyone explain this one to me? I don't think I'm getting it."

Lydia giggled. "I think the Grandpa dragon just made a dirty joke about Fendotalos' name."

Delphine turned towards her. "Really? I got the impression he was warning us that our friend apparently possesses Xenophilic tendencies."

I just sighed and shook my head slowly. Months of gravitas and good reputation, gone just like that.

 **Journal Entry #33 Fallen Allies**

"What. The. Hell?"

Paarthurnax laughed at my reaction as I stared slack jawed at M'aiq.

 **"I believe I had a similar reaction when I discovered that my first visitor in decades was M'aiq the Liar of all beings."**

"M'aiq hates being messenger. M'aiq would much rather wander where he wishes. Preferably somewhere warm. With sandy beaches. And fine women in skimpy clothing."

Paarthurnax grinned.

 **"Then why do you stay on this realm. Surely after so long you do not need to."**

It was M'aiq's turn to grin even as he shivered in the cold.

"M'aiq stays because at least here M'aiq does not have to play by their rules."

Now I was really confused.

 **"Um, would someone please tell me what exactly is going on. Please tell me Sheogorath isn't here."**

Paarthurnax snorted.

 **"After what happened to the last dovah to trifle with the daedric prince of madness, I would likely have abandoned my mountain if he had come here."  
**  
"M'aiq was given a task after our previous meeting. He has only just completed it and returned to be told to he must climb the Throat of the World of all things and inform the dragon Paarthurnax of what transpires in the world below."

Paarthurnax nodded grimly at this.

 **"It appears that much has transpired during my isolation here on the Throat of the World. If what M'aiq tells me is true, the return of my brother is only the most recent threat to the world of Nirn. He tells me that even if the dragonborn defeats Alduin, there are other threats abound that could undo this worlds existence, one of the gravest having sprung from the mer of the Summerset Isle."**  
I looked between them at this then nodded.

 **"You speak of the Thalmor."  
**  
M'aiq spat on the ground.

"Those pointy eared fools do not know what they mess with. Ascension is not a thing that can be properly predicted, no matter what evidence they may have to say it will succeed. M'aiq witnessed the disappearance of the Dwemer and even he does not know wether they ascended or wiped themselves from existence."

Paarthurnax looked up at the sky, a weary expression.

 **"Long ago in ancient times I was compelled to help the races of man. Afterwards I wished only to seclude myself and teach. To leave behind my experiences as a general and warrior. That I must once again do so to protect this world I love. It fills me with sadness."**

Part of me was confused by what he said.

 **"What do you mean that you must do so once again?"**

The old dragon grinned now.

 **"It appears I have once again been called to aid the men and other races of Nirn. At least this time, the one who orders me is one I both respect and knew. It was my great pleasure to teach him in life."**

I gasped at this news.

 **"You speak of Talos? Talos has asked you to give aid to the mortals?"**

"Yes. The request and information on what is at risk and what must be done were delivered to me by our mutual friend here. Even if I was not requested to help, the knowledge of what stands to transpire is too great for me to just idly stand by and do nothing."

"M'aiq and Paarthurnax have been outlining a basic plan while we have waited for you. M'aiq and Paarthurnax both share the sentiment that while Alduin is still the greatest threat, preparations against the Thalmor must begin now."

I looked between the two of them, taking a moment to absorb it all, before speaking.

 **"What must be done?"**

Paarthurnax sighed and made himself comfortable on his perch.

 **"In the days of the Dragon War, I myself led many battles and achieved many victories from the front lines. In combat, my knowledge and understanding of the thu'um and my experience as a general serving as Alduin's right hand, allowed us a great many victories and to finally succeed against much more powerful and destructive foes after Alduin's banishment through the Elder Scroll.**

Sadly I am no longer as capable as I once was. I have spent to long on this mountain, though I do not regret it. Like poor cursed Durnihvirr, trapped within the soul cairn, this mountain has slowly become a part of my "self" over the eons I have lain here awaiting Alduin's return. While I can still leave this place, I can not do so for long."

"I'm sorry to hear that. However I assume that the two of you must have some form of plan already."

"Indeed we do. M'aiq tells me you know of a thu'um. A thu'um that only my brother ever knew of. A thu'um with the ability to raise a fallen dragon and recreate their bodies."

I nodded.

 **"I know of this thu'um. The Dragonsoul Resurrection thu'um "Slen Tiid Vo". However though I have meditated on it, I have never used it, nor do I actually know if it will work for me."**

"M'aiq was told He should plan on the assumption that you will be capable of using it. Therefor M'aiq believes that you shall be capable of using it when the time comes."

Paarthurnax nodded.

 **"Even if the thu'um does not work for you, it is potentially too great an opportunity to pass up. The dragonborn will eventually be capable of facing Alduin, but there is a difference between hunting down one dragon and his followers as he sporadically finds them, and facing a threat caused by an entity as powerful and wide spread as this Aldermeri Dominion. Those who you raise would also be instrumental in helping protect others from the wrath of Alduin's forces. If our current plan fails, you may simply return and tells us so we may decide what our next action could be."**

I took only a moment to decide what I wanted to do.

 **"What is this plan? I'm assume that I'll be raising dragons, but who exactly will I be raising?"**

For a few seconds Paarthurnax looked sorrowful, before elaborating on them.

 **"They were my comrades. They were some of my closest allies during the dragon war. There are three dragons I wish you to seek out and raise. Maybe I shall require the aid of my other allies in future, but these three will show the most loyalty to our cause and provide us with what shall be needed. Many of my allies that did not fall during the Dragon War, were killed or disappeared during the thousands of years after. I never knew where most of them fell, but with M'aiq's help we have been able to locate a few of them.**

"After his previous meeting, M'aiq spent much time wandering the places and seeing the many sights of times and places. Eventually he learned of the locations of these dragons you will now search for."

I looked at Paarthurnax and asked him;

 **"Where can I find them?"**

"The first dragon I wish you to seek out is one by the name of Keinvothgeinmaar. While I am the most commonly thought of practioner and teacher of the way of the voice in this day and age, there were once others who followed it even more devoutly than me. Keinvothgeinmaar was one such dragon. Even before Jurgen Windcaller founded the Way of the Voice, Keinvothgeinmaar fought against his nature as a dragon. So great was his will to find peace and enlightenment by defeating his very draconic nature, that his name actually changed to reflect it. "Keinvothgeinmaar", War With Oneself.

He strong believed that freedom and peace were the rights of all sentient beings and after the Dragon War, became something of a nomad, traveling throughout Skyrim and northern Cyrodiil lending aid to just causes and other such things. I never knew what eventually became of him but thanks to M'aiq's help, I have learned what happened to him and where he finally fell.

While helping the ancient Nord hero Jorg Helmbolg exterminate a Dragon Cult remanent, he was struck down and slain by his nemesis and greatest rival, Sahloknir, the Champion of Alduin. Though he died, the wounds he weakened Sahloknir enough that Jorg Helmbolg could eventually slay him. After the battle, the surviving members of the Dragon Cult remanent buried Sahloknir in a dragon mound and tried to destroy Keinvothgeinmaar's body breaking his bones and then dumping the remains into the bay south of Windhelm.

The second dragon who would be of the most aid to our cause is Oniklahhadrim. "Wise Magika Mind" was once a dragon lord, a ruler over one of the tribes of dragon worshippers before they became the Dragon Cults as we often remember them today. Before the Dragon War Oniklahhadrim gained an interest in the study of the world, in particular the realms of interaction between the physical and magical. He eventually came to believe that true power was not in pyshical strength or powers, but in ones mastery of the knowledge and understanding of how the world worked.

During the Dragon War, he was struck down by Alduin himself, for his belief that the most powerful way to learn is to watch something in it's natural state. He thought that it was possible to still rule or guide the humans, but not through such tyrannical and oppressive means. Through the use of ancient arcane knowledge and now long forgotten rituals, he managed to somehow survive and then spent the rest of the war aiding us from in hiding.

 **Afterwards, with his body weak and never able to fully recover, he secluded himself away, far to the north near the collection of Ley Lines where Winterhold now stands. For millennia, he and his remaining followers isolated themselves and hid away from those who would not understand or fear the powers and knowledge they dabbled in. While he had what could be labeled as a Dragon Cult, his followers were not really such. They were more a collection of like minded individuals, all of them linked by the drive and will to understand the mechanics of the world around them and then use their knowledge of those mechanics to push what was thought possible.**

Eventually though, they too met their ends. The last time I was visited by him, Oniklahhadrim admitted he had become tired of hiding away from the world. Though they were now agless draugr, his followers too shared his wish to walk free on the surface again. He and his followers had under taken a truly ambitious and dangerous undertaking. They had undermined most of the area surrounding their hideaway with rune stones, giant magical arrays and created a vast system of arcane networks in order to move his followers and their home far out to sea so that they could live as a peaceful island of isolation and study.

As M'aiq discovered, their ambition became their downfall. After the locals saw what they would have thought was an ancient dragon of old and his Dragon Cult moving about the surface, they attacked and slew them all when the arrays were only partially complete. The arrays were originally supposed to draw their power from Oniklahhadrim himself so for that reason we believe that Oniklahhadrim's bones must lie somewhere in the partially completed core of his array, most likely under where the College now stands.

The final comrade of mine I wish you to seek out is Grahzinah. His name meant Battle Honor Hunter and it described him perfectly. Before the Dragon War, he sought only honor and renown through battle. He did not join us until later in the war, but as time went on he became disgusted and sickened by the actions and natures of the other dragons. There was no battle to be found in the conflict. It was only a meaningless slaughter of beings which he had often admitted to admiring for their courage and tenacity in battle. Neither was there any honor to be found amongst the conflict. The dragons had no respect nor care for who or what they slaughtered in order to assert their dominance. They had no respect or honor for anything but power and strength.

When the actions and boasts of Alduin and the other dragons disgusted him one to many times, he turned on them and began to protect and free bands of humans that were still locked under the dragons iron claws. By the time we found him, he had gathered quite the band of followers. However it was never in his nature to lead. He left them in our care and then headed out to continue to seek honor in battle where it could be found and bring it to where it was not.

He was a true monster in battle so it comes as no real surprise that most of his body was crushed,buried and destroyed beyond recognition in his final battle. The only locatable remains of his in this age are now his skull. Carved and crafted into a near indestructible shield, it is now lost and forgotten. Hidden away in the Pelagius wing of the Blue Palace in Solitude.

Once those three have returned, we may begin searching for other dragons that may aid us, but for now, these three are our best hopes. Their presence and council would carry much weight and be useful for earning the respect and allegiance of other dragons in future."

For many minutes I considered what I had learned. What this mission would entail. What problems could arise.

 **"This is a lot of distance to cover and travel."**

 **"I know"**

"And there is a lot of potential to be seen or for Alduin to find out"

"M'aiq sees that that is true."

 **"This is a trip that could take months. What about Erika? I promised her I would teach her and protect her. She may have advanced rapidly in the last month and a half, but she is far from ready to face down dragons on her own."**

"Which is why you shall undertake this journey with her."

My eyes widened with shock at this and my jaw almost dropped off.

 **"What? Are you insane? I can't just drag her off on a trip to the four corners of Skyrim for a couple of months! She needs to train. She needs to prepare herself for Alduin."**

The old dragon sighed.

 **"I admire your dedication to your student as well as your concern for her, but training and meditation can only go so far. The Way of the Voice is an excellent base for her to grow and develop from, but it is primarily a peaceful way of understanding and using the thu'um.**

As the dragonborn, she will need to experience and learn how to thu'um and fight in true combat situations and mock battles with her teacher will only go so far."

"M'aiq is simply the messenger. Please do not kill him."

I glared at him and M'aiq.

 **"Is this really our best option. A months long excursion around Skyrim?"**

Paarthurnax glanced at M'aiq.

 **"Sadly it has all ready been decided. You and the dragonborn shall stay here with the Greybeards on High Hrothgar for now, but when the time comes, Erika shall be told to begin her journey and you shall know what must be done."**

I glared at them once more.

 **"Decided? Told? By who?"**

 _By me_

 **Journal Entry #34 Confiding**

After farewelling Paarthurnax and then leaving the peak of the Throat of the World for the courtyard of High Hrothgar, what I had heard and been instructed to do weighed heavily on my mind.

For the next four days, I saw little of the Greybeards or Erika, Lydia and Delphine. Erika's studies with the Greybeards and the general chill in the air at this altitude meant I usually only saw them around midday when they tested what Erika had learned in the courtyard.

During that time, I was actually a little thankful for the temporary break in having to teach Erika. I worried about this up coming task greatly but not for the usual reasons. After all I had seen and done, I new how to handle myself. While I knew there were probably a good many dragons and other entities in Skyrim that could probably wipe the floor with me, most of them I could easily fly away from, or burn from the skies. However what I had to deal with now was a whole other kettle of fish.

Lydia and Delphine sure as hell wouldn't be leaving Erika to undertake this journey without them, so that meant I would have to plan for a trip involving three plus me. I could easily carry three passengers and all the supplies and equipment needed, but what to do when we needed more supplies? I couldn't just land in the middle of a town and ask if I could park there.

There were also the other challenges and problems brought up while on this trip. In a battle, I would also have to be much more careful and worry about catching the three of them in my cross-fire. Spending most of the day traveling would also greatly cut into any time Delphine and I would have to train Erika. And then there was Alduin. This was supposed to be an opportunity to give Erika some real world experiance and I could understand how important that would be for her, but what could Alduin do, how many followers could he potentially raise while we we on our journey?

This was a massive and risky undertaking but it had an invaluable potential pay off, especially once Alduin was defeated and the Empire and Aldermeri Dominion decided to go for round two. I suppose I'd definitively know wether this would work if I could raise Keinvothgeinmaar.

God, each of these dragons just had to be in noticeable places. The Resurrection Shout created that giant pillar of purple light and Keinvothgeinmaar was in the Windhelm Bay, Oniklahhadrim was somewhere in that inverted pyramid of rock under the College and Grahzinah was in the god damn Pelagius wing of the Blue Palace. A city of Nord supremacists, a dying school full of powerful mages and/or an arcane object capable of going nuclear on a good portion of the map, and finally the political and Imperial capital of Skyrim. Oh, and Sheogorath. Can't forget Sheogorath. I could already tell this was going to be fun.

To avoid overly winding myself up with worry, I took to spending most of my time meditating in the snow, looking out over the edge of the cliffs and down into the Whiterun Valley. If there was one thing that the game nor any mod could capture, it was the amazing views and vistas I had seen since coming here. From this great height most of Whiterun was barely visible, but some of the larger buildings and parts of the city could be distinguished. Dragonsreach, Jorrvaskr, the Gildergreen plaza, the temple of Kynareth and now the temple of Talos.

As a dragon, I was finding that I easily became a creature of habit whenever I picked up anything new. When there was nothing to do, I could sometimes spend most of the day meditating, or meditating on words to develop more experimental shouts. Another habit I had easily picked up were reciting prayers to Talos. Before arriving in Whiterun, I usually just went over them sporadically and memorized them, simply so I didn't have another incident like when I didn't actually know the rights and prayers needed to bury a body after Morthal.

Now it had become something of a ritual of mine to get up and say them at the rising of the sun, even if I would then usually either meditate or go back to sleep. While High Hrothgar's position on the mountain stopped it from directly being in the sunrise, it was now enough of a habit that my internal-clock would still wake me at that time.

One of the things I had recently started doing for no real reason but to sound "cool" was adding on my own final section to the prayers in dragon tongue.

 **"...and so we give thanks in Talos' name.**

Fah Talos Kogaan Mu Draal. Aal Rok Spaan Ahrk Aak Pah."

Having finished, I inhaled the crisp morning air and exhaled slowly. So much cleaner than the polluted mess of my home realm.

"What does it mean?"

Opening my eyes and looking around, I noticed that Delphine was now standing right beside me, holding a amulet of Talos.

 **"When did you get here?"**

"I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. I could hear you saying something from inside and wondered what you were up to."

She rolled the amulet up in a piece of cloth before hiding it in her pocket. Obviously paranoia died hard, even in a place as isolated as High Hrothgar.

"You said something in the dragon tongue at the end of the prayer. I know that particular prayer has no other lines, so I was just curious about what you were adding on to it."

I nodded slowly before looking down at Whiterun.

 **"Fah Talos Kogaan Mu Draal. Aal Rok Spaan Ahrk Aak Pah.**

From the ancient tongue of dragons, this translates to; For Talos' blessings we pray. May he shield and guide all."

Delphine nodded.

"It sounds nice enough when you speak it normally. I don't know about the dragon version though."

I chuckled and went back to taking in the view.

"Are you all right?"

I glanced back at Delphine in confusion.

 **"I'm sorry?"**

"Are you all right? The others may not have picked up on it, but I see it. There's this way you hold yourself and a particular look you have in your eye when you contemplate things or are in serious thought about something."

I frowned.

 **"You have known me for just over two weeks and you have managed to get that much of a read on my body language?"**

"I'm a Blade. Seeing the unseeable, hearing the unbearable, finding the unfindable. It was our job."

Looking away and back over the Valley, I considered telling Delphine a "shortened" version of what had been told. There was a respect and at least some measure of trust between us and I if I could convince her of this "mission" now, it might save time explaining things later when we eventually had to leave.

"You...aren't going to tell me are you?"

Sighing, I came to a decision and spoke.

 **"Do you remember how I said that there were other threats to Skyrim out there? Some great enough to threaten Tamriel?"**

Delphine slowly nodded.

 **"When I left for the mountain top, I originally sought guidance in my teaching of Erika. Instead I found something else up there."**

"What did you find?"

 **"A message. And a plan."**

Delphine frowned.

"What do you mean?"

 **"There is a threat out there. One so great it threats the existence of not just Tamriel, but the foundations of Mundus itself."**

Delphine looked horrified.

"You were told of a way to defeat it right?!"

" **Indeed I was, but before I tell you it, I must ask you a question. Have you ever heard of the phrase "The enemy of my enemy is my friend"?"**

She nodded.

"It means to ally yourself with the common foe of your enemy right?"

 **"Exactly. I know that the origins of the Blades were ancient Dragonslayers, so for that reason I ask you; How great an enemy would you ally yourself with? When the fate of the world will be at risk, would you side with an old foe if it could prevent it."**

She looked at me before her eyes widened in shock and understanding.

"You want to seek aid from dragons!? Did the cold air freeze your brain while you were on that mountain top?! Or have you forgotten that they are coming back from the dead to kill us right now?!"

 **"Yes, Talos told me that his Will is that we should try to make nice and become friends with the dragons burning and destroying towns and villages across Skyrim."**

"...What! That's not really the plan is it?!"

 **"Of course that is not the plan! Do you have no concept of Sarcasm? The plan does involve dragons but not those ones."  
**  
For a moment Delphine looked taken aback before gesturing for me to continue.

"I...uh, I'm sorry, you were saying?"

I rolled my eyes.

 **"The dragons are the current greatest threat to Skyrim, but if we want to survive the coming storms, we shall need to begin preparing now. In the Dragon War there were a number of dragons who sided with humans, however many of them were killed during the war. In the thousands of years since, almost all of the survivors were killed or went deep into hiding.**

I was recently told of the locations of three of these dragons. Dragons who were among humanities greatest allies and supporters during the war, and continued to remain peaceful towards humans after it. All three of them are now dead, but there is a shout that is capable of raising them so that they may join our cause."

Delphine looked at me dubiously.

"This doesn't sound like that great of an idea. Even if we could actually trust these dragons, aren't you supposed to protect and aid Erika. What will she do if she has to slay a dragon at her current level without you?"

 **"While I believe these dragons are trust worthy, I raised that exact point about her needing me."**

"So why are you still considering this plan? Even if it comes to you from Talos himself, it sounds rather foolhardy to abandon Erika and go around raising dragons. I only trust you because you have proven that you serve Talos."

 **"Sadly as his Will, this course was already decided for me. I am to still teach her, however only because it was decided she must accompany me on this task."**

"What! You can't take her! She needs experience out in the world yes, but this is like pushing the child who has already been thrown into the deep end back into the pool. What are you supposed to do?"

I sighed heavily.

 **"Exactly. That is why I have been worried for these past few days. Carrying out tasks for Talos by myself and carrying out tasks while protecting and teaching a young dragonborn are very different things."**

Silence passed between us for a number of minutes.

"I'm coming with you."

 **"...what?"**

"I'm coming with you two. And I have no doubt that Lydia would want to follow Erika as well. You'll have our help in looking after her. You just worry about getting us to these dragons."

I smiled thankfully at her.

 **"Thank you. I have no doubt your presence, knowledge and skills will be greatly appreciated before this journey is done."**

Delphine grinned at me in return.

"So. I'm guessing if it wasn't already, this is now one of those "save the world or die trying" type of things, right?"

 **Journal Entry #35 Vision of the Future**

Nine days after my meeting with Paarthurnax and M'aiq, it finally happened.

The previous day, the Greybeards had finally finished testing her and had declared what she had learned and how she had done so more than acceptable. The way out found out was, while in the middle of a meditation only to be shocked out of it when Erika came running up and started hugging my neck yelling "I passed, I passed!" and "Thank you!" After congratulating her, she then went inside to have a small celebratory dinner with Lydia, Delphine and Arngeir.

The next morning however, I was interrupted from my morning meditation by Delphine.

"I think...I think it happened."

I looked up in confusion.

 **"You think what happened?"**

"This morning when Erika woke up she said...well, I think it would be best if she explained it. I'm pretty sure it means you were right and we're going to have to leave soon."

Looking behind Delphine, I saw an white faced Erika walking towards me followed by a worried looking Lydia.

 **"Erika? What is wrong?"**

Standing before me, she took a shaky breath and then spoke.

"Last night...last night I had a dream...only I'm not sure it was a dream...I...don't know..."

"Look Erika, I think everything's fine. You probably just had too much mead and cheese before going to bed."

"I know what I saw Lydia and that...that was no dream."

She took another slow breath to calm herself.

"Delphine said I should speak to you."

I nodded slowly.

 **"Tell me of this dream of yours Erika."**

She ran a hand through her hair in what I recognized as a gesture of nervousness, before speaking.

"I...I think it might have been a vision...I saw places...things...I..."

She looked up at me.

 **"Go on Erika. Tell me of what you saw."**

She took a deep breath.

"Everything was so fragmented...It was like seeing small glimpses... I saw two dragons battling each other in the skies. Then I saw a windswept lake, in the distance a great stone bridge. I saw you flying above the lake. There was a...tower of purple light I front of you. Then it changed. I saw a scarred dragon carving symbols into rocks. I saw a giant castle balanced on a pillar of rock. Then there was an orb. A great floating orb of strange power. It...It kept on changing everything was in flashes..."

 **"It is fine Erika, what else did you see."**

She calmed herself and spoke again.

"I...The last part I saw was a shield. A shield made of the skull of a dragon. It was covered in dust and cobwebs in some sort of palace. There was a man in a suit, part purple and part orange and with a staff of screaming faces. I saw a banner baring the face of a wolf, fluttering in the breeze as it hung from a castle wall. Then there was a building. A whole group of them. I was running as they were burning. A dragon was attacking them."

She looked up at me, confusion and a small amount of fear evident in here eyes.

"What does it mean? I feel like I have to go to these places, but I have no idea where or what they are."

I was silent for a few moments as I thought before speaking.

 **"I believe...that your dream may have been a vision from the divines. Most probably Talos."  
**  
Lydia looked shocked at this.

"Wait so this wasn't actually a nightmare? You think she actually had a vision?"

Erika simply remained silent, looking at the ground before looking back at me with a determine look on her face.

"What are we supposed to do?"

I paused before continuing.

 **"I was recently told of something I must do. However I refused to go back on my promise to train and protect you and so for this reason a compromise was made. Once you were deemed ready enough, you would be given the option of following me on my journey. This would allow me to keep on instructing you and allow you to gather experience and knowledge for facing the dragons."**

She looked worried and scared for a moment before a determined look came over her face.

"I want to come with you."

I nodded.

 **"Do you remember me telling you that there were once other dragons like myself. Dragons who fought to protect humanity rather than destroy it."**

"Yes. You said the were all killed or in hiding though, right?"

 **"Correct, however I also mentioned that a powerful enough dragon with the right shout, had the potential to raise dragons who had not had their souls absorbed and bring them back to the physical realm."**

She nodded.

"That's right, you said that you believed that was how the dragons were returning. How does this relate to what I saw."

I breathed in deeply before continuing.

 **"I know of this shout. While I do not know if it would be capable of working for me, I was recently told of the locations of three dragons that once stood by and supported humanity during the Dragon War. Over the millennia they were hunted down or died in battle, but with their locations revealed to me, I am to attempt to raise them so that they may give aid to our battle and protect against any other threats the peoples of Tamriel in future."**

Erika nodded slowly as she absorbed all this.

"You said you only just found out where they are. That is where we are going? Those were the places in the vision?"

 **"Correct. The locations of their remains are in the far corners of Skyrim, but the strength and knowledge each of them holds could potentially be more than worth the time spent traveling to find them, especially in future. The first dragon we are to search for is Keinvothgeinmaar. His bones are scattered and buried in the lake southeast of Windhelm. Next is Oniklahhadrim. The information I have on him places his remains most likely inside the pillar of rock beneath the Mages College in Winterhold. The final dragon we must search for is Grahzinah. His remains are hidden somewhere in the Pelagius wing of the Blue Palace in Solitude. To find and raise them all will require a long journey and many months."**

At this Delphine spoke up.

"Windhelm! Winterhold! Solitude! This is going to take forever! Not to mention that each of these places is a hot-bed of politics and frictioning ideologies!"

Erika however was speaking the names of the three dragons and their translations, getting a feel for their pronunciations and meanings just like when I would teach her knew words or shouts.

"Keinvothgeinmaar. Oniklahhadrim. Grahzinah. War With Oneself, Wise Magika Mind and Battle Honor Hunter. Windhelm, Winterhold and Solitude."

She then looked up at me with confidence and courage shining in her eyes.

"When can we leave?"

 **Journal Entry #36 Under the Overhang**

It had been three weeks since we left High Hrothgar. Three weeks of boredom interspersed with training and planning.

Seeing as Keinvothgeinmaar would be our test of if this could work, we had generally agreed that most of the days would be spent traveling, while the evenings would be broken up with myself continuing to teach Erika thu'um and later Delphine providing information on Windhelm, as well as other Hold capital's important figures and their political atmospheres. Some may have wondered why Delphine didn't focus more on physical training, but I understood perfectly and supported what Delphine was doing.

Windhelm was a hot bed of political discontent and revolutionaries. We had no doubt that even if people in Windhelm didn't immediately recognize Erika as the dragonborn, the instant they, or any other Jarl's court did, she would become seen as just another political plaything or chess piece in at least one person's campaign. Delphine and I knew we wouldn't always be there to provide her with advice and warn her of others possibly hidden intentions. We wanted to provide her with enough knowledge that if she was ever on her own, she could at least "dodge the slaughter fish" as Delphine put it.

My own lessons with Erika had eventually picked off from where we had left off before arriving on High Hrothgar. With her having mastered all of the "Support" shouts that would help increase her survival in battle, I was now helping her complete her understandings of, and become more powerful with "Attack" shouts. Considering the number of times I had to stop our camp sites and training areas from turning into forest fires, I think she was either slowly becoming a pyromaniac or had set herself the goal of one day making a bigger fire-breath than me. Either way, she was continuing to progress rapidly in her studies.

It was actually getting to the point where I wasn't sure how much I actually had left to properly teach her. She now at least knew of all of the in game shouts and could use most of them in a combat situation. Although, the true test of her abilities would be when we finally ended up in a combat situation. Eventually once I taught her all of the in game shouts and most of my self-made ones, I was thinking about having the final true lessons with her being to walk her through and help her develop her own self-made shout. It would be a good way to show her how far she had come since she had first asked me for help. She would be able to create and use shouts she had made. Shouts no other dragon or human would be able to properly replicate like how she did unless she shared knowledge and understandings of them.

This particular evening however was overcast and horrible, leaving nobody in much of a mood to do anything but hide under cover. Obviously we were getting near Windhelm as it was quickly getting windy and cold as we travelled. If we were further north, the rain would probably turn into either sleet or snow. Our current camp was under a rocky overhang which provided some small amount of cover for them, but sadly not for me. I was a cold wet dragon.

"I thought the cold didn't effect you? You made no complaints about being out in the High Hrothgar courtyard for more than a week. Why all the complaining now?"

I uncurled from where I lay on the sodden ground and looked up at Erika.

 **"Technically yes, the cold does not effect me, but there is a difference between being effected and being comfortable."**

"So? You sat out there in the middle of a blizzard at one point. We came out the next morning and found you underneath an entire snow drift."

 **"At least once the snow drift covered me, it protected me from the wind and slowly warmed up like being wrapped in a blanket. This cursed weather however. The rain soaks and dampens through the scales, and this biting wind chills me as I get wet."**

"Why not use that Clear Skies shout?"

 **"It only works for a short period remember? It would be a wasted endeavor, repeatedly using it only to keep getting rained on again once I finally sleep. If only it could work for longer periods. No being should be forced to endure such horrible weather."**

She just grinned and looked at me from her nice dry spot under the overhang.

"You know, for the Will of Talos, you sure do complain a lot."

I just chuckled in return.

 **"It's really all just an act you see."**

I then grinned evilly and then spoke in a humorous "dark" voice.

 **"If I can get the dragonborn and her companions to believe such a foolish lie as myself being the Will of Talos, when they have truly let their guards down I can then eat them all!"**

"Laughing" madly, I set off a small Storm Call just for the lightning effect only to be interrupted by Erika blowing a raspberry.

"As if you would eat me. Lydia probably tastes nicer."

From the corner where she was preparing to make dinner, Lydia looked up.

"Considering how skinny you are, it's no surprise that I'd be eaten first."

"Hey!"

I laughed before helping Lydia turn the tables even futher on the young dragonborn.

 **"She's right you know. You would most probably be all stringy flesh and bone. Lydia over there would make a nice roast, but I am not sure if I would be able to do anything very fancy with you."**

Lydia laughed and grinned at me.

"What about a stew? Thats what you do with game fowls and rabbits."

 **"Still to little flesh. Maybe a slow cooked soup would be for the best."**

"You two!"

Lydia wasn't done yet.

"Recipe for Soup of Dragonborn. Add one stringy dragonborn to a pot of water. Add vegetables and seasonings. Also add one hard rock. Next boil on high heat for twelve hours. Once done, remove dragonborn and eat rock."

As I burst out laughing and a flustered Erika tried to come up with a retort, a sodden Delphine finally arrived from checking some traps she had put out before it started raining, with a couple of rabbits held in her hand.

"All right you three, nobody is going to be eating anybody else."

"Thank you."

"While we may not have any excess dragonborn, we can at least make soup out of these instead."

Lydia and I then burst out laughing together as Erika glared at Delphine.

"Not you too!"

I opened my mouth to add to the jokes, but then Erika turned on me.

"If you say even a single word, I will end you and eat your soul."

I knew she didn't mean it but then Lydia had to add to the ribbing.

"Maybe you should! You might gain some of his weight!"

All of us burst out laughing as a now red faced and embarrassed Erika glared at the fire and refused to give us any more ammunition for our digs.

Once things finally died down and the rabbits were stewed, everybody sat down to eat. At least Lydia and Delphine did. I hadn't bothered to eat anything today, but I noticed Erika slowly pushing her stew around her bowl.

 **"Erika? Is something wrong?"**

She looked up at us and then looked like a mixture of melancholy and embarrassed.

"I...Do you guys really think I'm too skinny?"

The three of us looked at one another confused.

"uhhh no."

"Not really."

 **"I would not say so."**

She continued to push her food around her plate and I was suddenly reminded that as far as she had come and as far as she had progressed, She was still a young woman who around this age would normally have spent her free time with her friends chatting about whatever girls would chat about. Not going dragon slaying with a housecarl, a Blade and the draconic manifestation of the Will of Talos.

 **"Well... uh... Erika...**

Luckily Delphine seemed to catch on as well.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that sort of thing Erika. Your a fine young woman as you are. I used to be called skinny in my younger days as well."

Lydia then added her own reassurance.

"I wouldn't worry about it. I know plenty of girls back in Whiterun who could be called thin as well and they do fine."

Suddenly Erika started sniffing and looked ready to cry.

 **"I, uhhh, if this is about the jokes, I apologize if we upset you."**

Erika seemed to then give something between a half laugh and sniffle.

"Oh gods, I'm sorry about this, I... You three just reminded me of my family."

She gave another part sob, part laugh.

"Even the way you all tried to back track reminded me of them."

The three of us looked amongst ourselves before Lydia spoke up.

"I...I'm sorry if we reminded you of them."

Erika just laughed and tried to wipe her eyes.

"Don't be. It's just... I haven't seen them in months and for a moment you all just made me feel like I was at home again. I felt like I was having my brothers turn a joke I made about them against me and then of course father would come and join in simply because there was a joke going on."

She now began to cry again.

"But as soon as they even thought they had actually hurt my feelings, they would try and back track and apologize for what they said...I wonder what they'd be doing right now..."

For a moment there was silence, before Delphine slowly shuffled around the fire and took Erika in a hug.

"Don't worry. You'll see them again someday. Don't you worry."

Burying her face in Delphine's chest, I could hear Erika's soft sobs.

It wasn't like the heartfelt out pouring Erika had had when she first asked for my aid. As Lydia shuffled over and joined in on the hug, I realized this was homesickness. My heart went out to her as I also felt a small amount of longing for my home. However my own draconic nature and drive helped me deal with my longing for home to the point where I would barely even think about it these days outside of meditation. Erika didn't have that sort of ability to just forget and ignore the call of home. But she did have us.

 **"All shall be all right Erika. We are here."**

Slowly stretching out a wing, I awkwardly placed a dew-claw around the three of them.

 **Journal Entry #37 Chasing the Storm**

I should have known what it was. I should have fucking known.

For the next few days we continued north. The weather had not let up at all and we were not always able to find cover like in the shelter of trees and cliffs. By the end of it all, everybody was thoroughly sick of the wind and rain. Erika and I had tried a numerous times to end the storm using Clear Skies, but there must have been some sort of massive storm front traveling down from the Sea of Ghosts. No matter how many times we tried to calm the skies, within a few minutes the clouds would once again roll in from the north, the wind would pick up and the chilling rain would begin to fall.

Even it was even worse while flying. No matter how high I flew, I could not escape the clouds before passing into an altitude to thin-aired for my passengers. Flying at my usual altitude and speed would mean I'd be flying blind through the clouds, and the three women on my back would probably end up soaked to the bone and frozen to the point they could get hypothermia. Instead our travel speed was greatly slowed as I now had to fly closer to the ground, below mountain level and at a much slower speed in order to turn and maneuver gently.

For me it was mostly a matter of being uncomfortable, but Erika, Lydia and Delphine had taken up wrapping the water-proof skin of their tent around themselves when we flew. Sadly for Lydia, this only heightened her feelings of air-sickness due to the lack of being able to have a visual reference to the rest of the world and ground.

On the ground it was now standard for us that once they set up their tent and had entered it, I would curl around it with my back to the wind and rain, as well as placing a wing over the tent. This provided at least some shelter from the winds and rain that would enter through the two open ends of their simple tent. It still did little to end what was slowly becoming the mind numbing sound of the rain falling. We were all cold wet and sincerely wished for the storm to end.

It was on one night like this that we saw lightning on the horizon. For all of the storms never ending rain and winds, we had not actually seen the storm produce lightning previously. Simply writing it off as the storm taking a turn for the worst, all we did was move our camp away from some trees and then went back to trying to sleep. The lightning only lasted for a few minutes at most, and it was so far away all we actually saw were flashes across the horizon. Eventually it stopped almost as suddenly as it began and it's presence faded from our minds.

The next morning as we continued our flight north, it was Delphine who first noticed something was wrong.

"Turn east!"

 **"What? Why?"**

"There's smoke coming from the east!"

Slowly banking to the east to check out what Delphine could see, I heard Lydia speak up.

"Are you sure what your seeing is smoke? There's so much of this accursed rain that you might not actually be seeing anything."

I then spotted what Delphine had seen and began to rapidly descend.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

 **"There is something down there that was burning recently. A lot of something."**

As I finally landed, it became clear what had attracted Delphine's attention. An entire village burned to the ground.

"Divines..."

Looking around as they dismounted Erika spoke up.

"What could have done this? Bandits?"

Delphine was already inspecting the few still standing structures.

"No. This. Wasn't bandits. This was something worse. See how the upper parts of the building were incinerated by high heat, and yet when the lower parts have burned, they have been put out by the rain? This was a dragon that did this."

"Wait, so where is it?"

"No longer here at least. It looks like it burned the village but didn't stick around to actually destroy anything."

Since we had landed, there was something that had been bothering me but I couldn't quite place it until then.

 **"Where are all the villagers?"**

"What do you mean. They're probably all dead, seeing as they had a dragon attack in a pretty damn out of the way place."

 **"Exactly. Where are the bodies?"**

As everyone looked around, they picked up on what I had noticed. It was Lydia who spoke.

"There are no bodies. What happened to all the people then?"

Delphine started wandering through one of the burned buildings before looking back out at a paddock of charred cattle corpses.

"This wasn't a surprise attack. These people had time to grab clothing and supplies. Most of their valuables and possessions are still here, as well as their livestock, but they had enough time to quickly collect what they might need to survive in the wilderness or journey to the nearest town."

Looking around the area where we had landed, Erika and Lydia added their own observations.

"The stables are empty but I see no dead horses. I think they took them all."

"The rain has washed away most of the tracks, but I'd hazard a guess and say that everybody left via this north road for some reason."

Then we heard Delphine cry out.

"You should probably take a look at this!"

Rushing over, we saw what she had found. It was a dead farmer, most of his body burned beyond recognition. And yet he was the first corpse we had found. He had apparently crawled from the middle of the street where he had first been burned, to a covered veranda for a nearby house. Then we saw what had really attracted Delphine's attention. Using a mixture of mud and his own blood, he had left a message for anybody who found him.

"It came from the mound. It flies north."

I looked at the message before a grave feeling took hold in my stomach.

 **"What is the name of this town?"**

Delphine raised an eye-brow questioningly.

"I haven't seen any signs since we landed. Why?"

 **"He mentions a "mound" in his message. I have a terrible feeling about this."**

I then looked up at the mountain behind the town.

 **"We should spread out and try and find either something that will tell us where we are, or a large hole in the ground, most likely in part of a giant burial mound."**

"Why the hole in the ground?"

 **"Because I fear that I may know what dragon did this."**

After splitting up, it was only ten minutes before I heard Erika's cries that she had found something. Heading up into the hills, we found a now empty dragon burial mound. As we stared at it in silence, Erika spoke up.

"This is it isn't it. This is where they are coming back from. They really are coming back from the dead."

I nodded gravely as I stared into the heart of the now empty mound. Minutes later, Delphine and Lydia joined us, the later holding what looked like a broken sign from a sign post in her hand.

"This is Kynesgrove isn't it?"

Her eyes widened as she held out the faded and partially burned sign for us to see. Kynesgrove - East. Windhelm -North.

Erika then looked at me.

"What does this mean?"

I sighed deeply then spoke.

 **"Remember how I told you that dragon we slew in Whiterun was only the equivalent of a captain?"**

She nodded slowly.

 **"This was the burial mound for the dragon Sahloknir. His title was the Champion of Alduin. With the aid of a dragon cult, he killed Keinvothgeinmaar. And now he flies north to the site of their last battle. He is headed for Windhelm."**

 **Journal Entry #38 Night of the Dragons**

According to Delphine, Windhelm was two days travel almost directly north of here. That meant that we could be there in only a few hours by dragon. However it also meant that even at my top speed with passengers, Sahloknir would most likely arrive there before us.

After leaving Kynesgrove, a silence fell upon us as I made haste through the chilling winds and biting rains. It was a silence of calm and preparation. We all knew what Sahloknir being the Champion of Alduin meant. There would likely be many casualties by the time this battle was done, and any one of us could be among them.

I was most worried for Erika. Delphine was silently saying prayers under her breath and Lydia was attempting to check her armor and weapons conditions, but Erika was silent and still. She was either meditating or preparing herself for what would probably be her greatest foe yet. She had come far since her last dragon battle. Now it was time to see if all her training and lessons had payed off. This would be her greatest trial yet on her path to growing into the legend of the dragonborn.

Finally the hours of travel brought us out of the mountains and into the hills south of the great Windhelm Bridge. Through the darkness of the night, we could see that Sahloknir had already arrived. The bridge and the area around it were in flames. There were a number of houses and other buildings on this side of the bridge that weren't here in the game and were now burning. The stables had been leveled, along with the guards towers all long the bridge. Looking across the bridge, I could see that it was actually still intact. Sahloknir was at the other end, but thankfully he hadn't noticed our arrival. He was more focused on the remaining Stormcloak soldiers defending the gate.

He must have had orders to wipe out the populace or something since as far as I could tell, he was actually going out of his way to kill everybody and destroy everything, rather than just flying over the wall and raining fire indiscriminately down on the city as most dragons would have done. Damage to the guard posts aside, the bridge looked safe enough to transverse.

 **"I need you all to get off me."**

"What?"

 **"I can't fight properly with you on top of me and once I attack or alert him to my presence, it will be unlikely I'll have a safe opportunity to let you all dismount."**

"He's right Erika, we'd only be a hindrance at close range in a fight against a dragon this powerful."

As the three of them dismounted, Erika walked around in front of me.

"You can't face that thing alone!"

 **"But I can buy you three enough time to get into the city and for the civilians to either evacuate, get to safety or hide. Once across, you can help me either kill Sahloknir or distract him long enough I can attempt to raise Keinvothgeinmaar."**

She looked up at me worriedly, as in the background Sahloknir killed the last of the guards outside the gate before flying up and landing on top of it.

"We'll get across the bridge as soon as possible. Try not to die."

I slowly backed away from them and spread my wings.

 **"I won't. Talos protects."**

Launching myself into the sky, I flew upwards as fast as possible, until I was hidden amongst the storm clouds. Flying over the city and then circling around, I was now hovering over Windhelm, facing Sahloknir as he rained fire from atop the city's great entrance.

" **Foolish mortals! I am Sahloknir! CHAMPION OF ALDUIN!"**

Show time.

 _ **"Joor Zar Frul! Strun Bah Qo! Sah Kaal Fen!"**_

As the torrential down pour darkened the night skies even further, the clouds above Windhelm erupted with thunder and draconic roars before I appeared. Diving out of the heart of the storm from the north, lightning writhing across and highlighting my white scales and armor, surrounded by the armored Valkyries, I was the literal descending wrath of an angered god.

Amazingly, my Dragonrend only just missed Sahloknir. He had used Slow Time and Whirlwind Sprint to almost instantaneously dodge Dragonrend and then duck below my claws by diving off of the gate and into the courtyard below.

Turning around and then glaring down at him from the perch he had previously been forced to vacate, I then roared and bellowed forth my challenge.

 _ **"Foolish Dragon! I am Fendotalos! THE WILL OF TALOS!"**_

For a moment there was a stunned silence across the square before a voice cried out;

"It's true! The traders weren't lying! There really is a White Dragon of Talos!"

Almost instantly, Sahloknir then attacked with a Unrelenting Force that completely obliterated the gate, forcing me to the air from where I then breathed fire upon him, only for my shout to miss. In a matter of seconds he had dodged it and was now charging towards me through the air. Trying to hit him with a Dragonrend again, he managed to dodge below it, taking a slash to his face from my tail in the process and once again being forced to the ground, this time landing at top the roof of a house.

He then glared up at me.

 **"You dare! You dare not only to draw blood from the Champion of Alduin, but defend these mortals?!"**

He then charged at me, forcing me to fly to the side and turn sharply as he then tried to ice-breath me from behind.

 **"I have dealt with your kind in the past and I shall do so again!"**

Trying to hit him with Dragonrend again as he turned to come at me again, he dodged it before replying with a fire-breath that forced me higher again.

 _ **"You shall do so in Oblivion! I am the Will of Talos and he demands your death.!"**_

Flying upwards again, I dodged and jinked back and forth to avoid more breath attacks as he began to tail me. At the height of my climb, I then turned and dived, rapidly building speed as he continued to follow me and pick up speed himself in order to continue tailing me.

However rather than pulling up as he expected me to, I then opened my wings and flared them wide, bleeding off speed and allowing him to overshoot me before he could react to what I was doing. I then immediately then turned back into the dive and picked up speed as I was now the chaser. Firing dragonrends at him as I followed him, he twisted and turned as we roared over roof tops and then slowly continued our chase upwards. Eventually he managed to out maneuver me as we flew into a steep downward turn, performing a loop in order once again pick up the position of attacker.

For a number of minutes we danced amongst the storm clouds and lightning, continuing our draconic aces duel until his age and experience finally won out. While once again being tailed by him, he managed to get a fire-breath to connect with my wing. Just the smallest amount of speed and maneuverability lost from this strike allowed him to nail me again in the back. As I struggled to re-orientate myself, he then used Whirlwind sprint while flying to catch up and grab my already injured wing in his talons.

Turning my head, I tried to hit him with Dragonrend, only for Sahloknir to dart his head in like a snake, biting my neck and forcing me to discharge the Dragonrend into empty space. I think the with the amount of times I had tried to hit him with it, straight from my opening attacks, he must have realized it was my force-multiplier or a trump-card of some sort and now tried to avoid it at all costs.

With his claws locked on my wing, and his jaws around my neck trying to keep my head pointing away from him, neither of us were actually flying now. As we fell, I managed to twist myself around and begin clawing up his stomach with my talons. Crying out in pain, he released my neck, but realizing I was about to go for Dragonrend, he used Unrelenting Force on me.

As I was knocked away from him, I realized both of us were now too close to the ground to recover from our fall. Using" Krif Viing Bo" and Whirlwind Shield on myself, I only had seconds to pray they would at least lighten my fall somewhat and give me some protection from the hard ground.

For a moment I could see Sahloknir preparing to shout something at me before my view of him was obscured by a roof top. Then in a shower of roofing tiles, splinters, shattered glass, destroyed wood and twisted metal, I smashed though a three story house and ended up in the ruins of the basement. Taking a moment to slowly heal my shattered bones and internal damage, I hauled myself out of the ruin and tried to figure out where I was.

Sahloknir and I seemed to have landed somewhere near the Palace of Kings, around where the rest of the city met and slowly became the Grey Quarter. I knew that if the battle moved down into the tight and confined streets of the Grey Quarter, casualties would rapidly amount as people and building were caught in our cross-fire. I'd need to force him into a more open area where it would be easier to attack and dodge him.

Seeing an explosion of fire to my west, I leaped onto the roof of a building before taking to the air once more. As I approached where he was now battling Stormcloak soldiers in the street, I took an opportunity to see how much damage he had taken in his fall. He looked battered, bloody and had a number of shards of wood and steel impaled into his flesh, but I knew that these would merely be superficial injuries to a dragon of Sahloknir's size and power.

I was really beginning to hate the Nords wariness and distrust of mages, even if Winterhold had sunk into the sea. Despite Erika and I being the ones to finally injure and bring down Beinalbahlok, in my opinion the true force multiplier of that battle had been the mage/scroll magical artillery support. Even if they would never have been able to bring down Beinalbahlok, the constant pain and distraction from their barrages would regularly stun him and allow me to get breathing room, catch him off guard, hit him with Dragonrends and direct the battle in the defenders favor.

Here Sahloknir was so fast and agile that I could not hit him from range, and getting close to him would be suicidal. I could take more punishment than him thanks to my "healing" shouts, but that advantage was rendered moot if he killed me before I had a chance to use them. I would have to catch him by surprise.

Waiting for him to be totally focused on the Stormcloak soldiers, as soon as I saw an opening, I spat a Dragonrend at him and dived.

However once again the bastard somehow used a mixture of Slow Time and Whirlwind Sprint to dodge the Dragonrend at the last second. Luckily for me, he had tried to dodge by leaping straight up and attempting to take to the air again. Catching him straight in the chest, I then used Whirlwind Sprint to propel us through a few more buildings using Sahloknir as a shield.

In an explosion of wood and stone, we burst then through a block of houses and into the square outside the Palace of Kings, just in time to land on top of a unit of Stormcloak soldiers. Ironically, just before I had landed on top of him, the commander had been telling his men;

"Our orders are to contain the dragons in the Grey Quarter!".

With a sickening sound of crushed flesh and armor, I rolled off the soldiers I had crushed and leapt to the side as Sahloknir aimed a fire-breath at me, catching a number of shocked and stunned soldiers in the process. As they began to panic and tried to get out of the way of our battle, I shouted a Dragonrend at Sahloknir only for him to use another Slow Time and Whirlwind sprint combination to dodge it. Crushing more soldiers with his movements, he then aimed a frost breath at me, which I blocked with hastily shouted Whirlwind Shield. As soon as I dropped it however, he used Slow Time and Whirlwind sprint again to get right in my face and then tail-whip me through the air and into a building.

I was beginning to understand what made him so powerful. If Lokjotraghol was a berserker and Beinalbahlok was a tank, then Sahloknir was the lightning bruiser. He had mastered Slow Time and Whirlwind Sprint to the point that he could use them neigh instantaneously and repeatedly. He could get in close, attack me, dodge my blows and shouts and then pull back in the blink of an eye. He was like a fucking purple flash across my vision whenever he used that damned combination.

Using my own Whirlwind sprint to explode out of the ruined house, I charged at Sahloknir only for him to dodge me and take to the skies. Looking down at me he then prepared to shout.

 **"YOL TOOR-"**

"FUS RO DAH!"

Caught off guard, the Unrelenting Force hit Sahloknir straight in the side and smashed him into the stone wall that divided the square from the entrance courtyard of the Palace of the Kings. As he fell to the ground and giant blocks of stone rained down on him, I turned to see Erika breathless and leading two of the Valkyrie squads.

"Do you know how hard it is to follow you when you're in the sky?! I damn near got lost!"

I couldn't help but laugh for a moment before the pile of rocks and debris covering Sahloknir exploded as a ball of fire headed straight for me and Erika.

As she Whirlwind Sprinted to the side and launched a fire-breath at Sahloknir, I took to the air and tried to hit him with another Dragonrend. Using his damned combination again, he dodged both our attacks and then managed to tail-whip a Valkyrie through a store front. Obviously he still considered me the greater threat, as he then launched a fire-breath at me before spreading his wings to try and take off again. However when he did, a number of firebolts and Ice-spikes peppered his wings and chest, distracting him long enough for Erika to use another Unrelenting Force to knock him over through a house.

Glancing around to see where the impromptu magic barrage had come from, I saw a number of Dunmer crowding the streets that led from here to the Grey-Quarter.

"Come on everybody! We've withstood two hundred years of Nord oppression and racism and haven't let ourselves be forced out! A dragon isn't going to change that any time soon!"

Not looking a gift horse in the mouth I dived down and hovered near Erika.

 _ **"We need to hold him down somehow! We can't kill him unless we can hit him but he's just to damn fast!"**_

Just then the house concealing Sahloknir exploded.

 **"Cursed Mortals! Cursed Dragonborn! Cursed Traitor! I WILL FEAST UPON YOUR FLESH!"**

Erika glanced at me before darting away.

"I have an idea! try and force him to the ground!"

Nodding, I then used my already gained height to shout fire-breaths above Sahloknir's head, halting his upwards progress. Roaring in anger, he then used his own fire-breath, which I flew over and left him open for Erika to fire a ice-breath at. Taking it straight to the chest, he saw me about to use Dragonrend and responded through the use of his Slow Time and Whirlwind Sprint combination. Dodging a volley of arrows from some nearby Stormcloaks and a second Dragonrend from me, he was left unable to avoid the spells of the nearby Valkyries and Dunmer. Seeing an opening, Erika then nailed one of his wings with an Ice-form.

I could see the tension slowly building in Sahloknir's eyes and the way he strained his body. This was the worst possible kind of situation for him to fight in. Surrounded on all sides, in a way that rendered his massive speed boosts and agility moot. I was blockading him from escaping to the sky, Erika held the ground, from the east the Dunmer were pouring on the spells as more of them began to arrive to help and he was being pelleted with Stormcloak arrows from all remaining angles. If I had any hope of hitting him with Dragonrend, we'd need to keep this pressure on him until he finally slipped up.

However my previous battles had taught me something. Just when you think you have a dragon on the ropes, they then turn around and pull a little extra something out of their ass.

In Sahloknir's case, he seemed to decide that desperate times called for desperate measures, in this instance, giving up on avoiding all attacks save mine and trying to take me and my mystery shout out of the equation. Charging towards me, spells charred his hide, Stormcloak arrows pierced weak points in his armor and Erika's shouts, burned and froze his flesh. All of his efforts now went into closing the distance between the two of us and avoiding the storm of Dragonrends I was now hurling at him.

Using Slow Time and Whirlwind Sprint, he finally collided with me before I could dodge and then bit viciously into my neck. As I struggled to free myself, he then used his hind claws to try and tear open my chest and stomach. Unable support our combined weight, we once again feel out of the sky.

Smashing through the roof of a bakery, we were both blinded by clouds of flour. As I extracted myself from the debris, I readied a Dragonrend as Sahloknir attempted to douse me in the flames of his fire breath. Suddenly the air around us erupted into flames as Sahloknir's fire-breath caused the flour we had spilled to ignite like a impromptu flour-bomb.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

Shaking the smoke from my eyes, I turned to see Sahloknir become bathed in flames once again. Having followed our short flight from the ground, Erika had used Whirlwind sprint to catch up. Tail-whipping Sahloknir out of the ruined bakery and into the street, I took flight and began raining Dragonrends and ice-breaths down on him. Just moments later, the Dunmer and Stormcloaks caught up and Sahloknir was surround once again. Only this time he was now on the ground.

"Golz Kopraan Whalaan!"

In a move that instantly turned the tables, Erika called forth a dozen spikes of stone from the cobblestone road Sahloknir stood on. Spearing him through the wings, the ends of the spikes thickened and then flattened, leaving him impaled to the ground by giant stone screws.

Seeing this as the greatest opportunity yet, I prepared to hit him with Dragonrend.

 _ **"JOOR-"**_

For the first time in the battle, fear could be seen in Sahloknir's eyes. He didn't know what I could do by shouting "Mortal" "Finite" "Tempoary" at him, but he was smart enough to know that the effort I went through to try and hit him with it meant he didn't want to find out.

 _ **"-ZAH-"**_

 **"WULD NAH-"**

Oh shit! He wouldn't actually try to-

 _ **"-FRUL!"**_

 **"KESTTARRGHHHHHRRR!"**

I watched with a slight sense of horror as he used Whirlwind Sprint to tear himself from the stone screws he was impaled by, shredding his wings and leaving them in torn bloody tatters.

"Holy Shit!"

 **"ARRGGHHH! YOU FILTH! YOOL TOR SHUL!"**

Erika had only moments to create a Whirlwind Shield around herself, before the flames hit the surface with enough force to send her through a shop window.

 _ **"Erika! FUS RO DAH!"**_

Trailing blood all over the street, he dodged my shouts as he closed in on me.

 **"Pitiful! I shall do to you what I did to all the other traitors!**

He then shot a frost-breath at me, which I ducked under, only to then find he had used Slow Time to then tail-whip me hard enough to go through a house.

Slowly getting up and healing my wounds, I realized I was now in front of the north side of Candlehearth Hall.

 **"-RO DAH!"**

Throwing myself out of the way, I narrowly dodged a Unrelenting Force which cratered the ground and took out the wall of Candlehearth.

 _ **"JOOR ZAH-"**_

 **"TIID CLO UL! WULD NAH KEST!"**

Once more proving his superior speed and shouting mastery, Sahloknir charged in and head butted me, forcing me to release Dragonrend into the ground.

 **"FUS RO DAH!"**

With no room to move and time to shout, I was sent flying backwards and impacted painfully in the side of a house, before continuing through it and into the one next to it.

 **"Your soul is mine traitor."**

Looking up, I saw that Sahloknir was now slowly advancing on me.

 _ **"My soul belongs only to Talos!"**_

I grimaced in pain as I spoke. I needed to heal. I needed to stall him so I could fix my fractured ribs and internal bleeding.

Sahloknir simply laughed and kept on advancing.

 **"Such a foolish traitor. Your soul already belongs to me. It has been so since you first struck at me. I just haven't taken it yet."**

"Fus Ro Dah!"

The ground shook, dust was thrown up, Debris were blown away and a confused Sahloknir stumbled for a moment before turning.

 **"Was that all?"**

Wait. That wasn't Erika's voice. That was a man's!

Hauling myself up, I turned to see Ulfric Stormcloak standing in the middle of the main road to the Palace of Kings. Beside him stood his thane and right hand advisor/general Galmar Stone-Fist and at their tail, a whole mob of Stormcloak Soldiers and Windhelm Guards.

"ATTACK!"

Using the distraction of the charging soldiers, I began to heal myself. At first I thought Ulfric was ordering his troops to simply zerg-rush Sahloknir, but just as the Champion of Aludin prepared to roast his men, the trap sprung.

"FUS RO DAH!"

As Sahloknir dug his claws into the ground, but still resisted being moved by Ulfric's shout, Galmar yelled out.

"Now men! Ambush it!"

Suddenly from the roofs and side streets, more Stormcloaks poured out.

 **"TIID CLO UL! WULD NAH KEST!"**

Maybe against another dragon this might have worked, but not Sahloknir. Like a tornado of fiery death, concussive force and freezing ice, he easily made short work of any Stormcloaks who got into meele range with him. With my body almost healed, I began to try and extract myself from the ruins I lay in.

"Fus Ro Dah!"

Then Sahloknir turned his attention to Ulfric.

 **"The little mortal thinks he is a tongue does he? Fool! Let me show you what a true wielder of the voice can do! FUS RO DAH!"**

"WULD NAH KEST! WULD SPAAN DWIIN!"

Suddenly a shield of spiraling wind formed and encased Ulfric, the concussive waves of Sahloknir's Unrelenting Force rolling over it's surface.

 **"What the..?"**

"FUS RO DAH!"

Blasting Sahloknir away and then into the side of a building, the dust cleared to reveal Erika now standing in front of Ulfric.

"How's that for a true wielder!?"

Sahloknir's response was to explode out of the destroyed and charge across the street at them.

 **"DRAGONBORN!"**

 _ **"WULD NAH KEST!"**_

Catching him by surprise I managed to shoulder-check Sahloknir into the destroyed face of Candlehearth Hall. Kicking me off, he began to prepare a fire-breath, only to receive a double Unrelenting Force to the chest, thanks to Erika and Ulfric. Seeing him be crushed further through the stone and brick building, I had an idea.

 _ **"WULD NAH KEST!"**_

Crushing him through some more of the building, I darted backwards before once more shoulder-checking him.

 _ **"WULD NAH KEST!"**_

Again.

 _ **"WULD NAH KEST!"**_

Again

 _ **"WULD NAH KEST!"**_

Once more.

 _ **"WULD! NAH! KEST!"**_

Having used my own body to jack hammer him through the entire length of the structure, we exploded through the south side of the building. It was satisfying to hear the cracks and crunches of his ribs being broken as I tackled him through the front of the building.

Within moments, Ulfric and Erika had caught up with us.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

"To me men! Let's kill this thing!"

As Erika bathed Sahloknir in fire and Stormcloaks charged into the square, I pulled myself up only to receive an tail-whip from Sahloknir which put me through another building. Looking up, I was just in time to see him use Whirlwind Sprint to charge me and tackle me through a building. Trying to get up once more, I felt his jaws clamp down on my neck before he tossed me through one building, and then doing the same thing to send me through another.

I felt a thrill of terror run through me. This was even worse than Beinalbahlok. At least we had been able to slowly wear him down. Sahloknir just refused to get hit, let alone go down when we did hit him. He was done playing. We had injured him and now he just wanted to finish his job and leave. That meant killing me first and he was slowly doing a pretty good job of it.

After using me as a chew toy and a wrecking ball on a number of other structures, he then threw me through a final building. As I struggled to get up, I realized our battle had come full circle. We were now back at the destroyed front gates of Windhelm. However, I could now do little but struggle and twitch as I attempted to get away from Sahloknir and heal.

 **"Oh so pitiful. At least face me and die with some honour."**

Rearing back to bite down on my neck and end me, he then cried out in shock and pain. As he shook himself to try and remove what was attacking him, I saw Galmar Stone-Fist and a number of Valkyries hanging onto and stabbing at Sahloknir's back.

"Die beast! The Nords of Skyrim won't be defeated by the likes of you!"

Dragging myself away, I watched as Sahloknir managed to dislodge all of his attackers except Galmar.

 **"Mortal rat!"**

"Death to you dragon!"

Rising up while standing on Sahloknir's back, he then brought his great two-handed axe down. Sahloknir roared and screamed with pain, redoubling his efforts to remove Galmar. Prying his axe out of Sahloknir's hide, he then hefted it above his head once more.

"DIE!"

This time it struck hard enough to pierce flesh and draw blood, realesing it in a great spray that splattered Galmar. Rearing back, Sahloknir finally managed to dislodge Galmar, but still had the axe stuck in his back. As the old Nord rolled across the ground, Erika, Ulfric and the rest of the Stormcloaks arrived.

"Galmar!"

Drawing his sword, the old Nord darted to the side, narrowly missing Sahloknir's jaws. Executing a perfect counter-strike, he then drove the sword into Sahloknir's eye. Screaming in pain, Sahloknir blasted fire at Galmar, forcing the Nord general to duck and roll away from it.

"Galmar, you need to get out of there!"

Darting to the side to avoid a blow from Sahloknir's wing, Galmar's luck and skill finally ran out when Sahloknir's tail caught him full in the chest and sent him through a shop front.

"GALMAR! YOU BEAST! FUS RO DAH!"

My body was still weak and heavily, injured but I could now finally move. As I struggled to move further away from the battle and heal faster, I heard Erika crying out in pain. Turning around I saw that she had been tail-whipped across the courtyard and Sahloknir was now charging at her.

 **"PREPARE TO DIE DOVAHKIIN!"**

 _ **"WULD NAH KEST!"**_

My body cried out in pain and agony as my shout allowed me to barrel across the courtyard and smash into Sahloknir, hopefully buying Erika time to escape.

 **"Traitor! Why won't you die!"**

 _ **"You cannot kill the will of Talos! FUS RO DAH!"**_

Using his Slow Time and Whirlwind Sprint combination, he then tail-whipped me hard enough for my jaw to shatter, and then again to send me across the courtyard and into the stone wall that surrounded Windhelm. As I struggled to get up, Sahloknir then hit me with an Unrelenting Force hard enough to crater the great stone wall behind me.

Everything was blurry. Everything hurt. There was a clouded fog in my brain and everything just felt shattered. There was pain and weightlessness, and yet everything felt numb and heavy.

"Fendotalos!"

"Come on men! We need to buy the white dragon some time!"

 **"FUS RO DAH!"**

Suddenly I felt like somebody had driven bus into my chest while I had my back to a wall.

 **"FUS RO DAH!"**

There was the sound of breaking stone and destroyed flesh and bone.

 **"FUS RO DAH!"**

I could hear a young girl. A woman. Or was she a girl-woman.

 **"FUS RO DAH!"**

Was she screaming my name? Or was she screaming my not-name which is my name? Everything was so fuzzy.

 **"Well. I guess the Will of your god is not so unkillable after all.**

"Get up! You have to get up!"

 **"FUS! RO! DAH!"**

"FENDOTALOS!"

I felt like I was being crushed. I heard the breaking of stone. Then I felt weightless. I felt the whistling of air. I felt free.

I hit water.

It was cold. Dark, cold and frozen. It was calm and a silent. Like a stone I slowly floated downwards. Becoming lighter and heavier at the same time.

 _Open your eyes_

Did I have eyes any more?

 _Open them_

It was the void.

Not my meditation void. That was a pale shade, a hollow echo to this.

This was the void after Morthal. The void where I received the Valkyries.

 _Are you ready?_

Ready for what?

 _The end_

The end?

 _The end_

...I thought I had things to do?

 _Only if you choose to_

...what about the others?

 _They go on without you_

But they need me.

 _True_

How do I get back.

 _You live_

I want to live. I want everybody to live.

 _Sometimes that isn't possible_

I know.

 _You will need Keinvothgeinmaar_

I'm not sure if I can actually raise him.

 _You can_

How? I don't even have the understandings for it.

 _..._

Hello? Are you still there?

 _Slen Tiid Vo_

What?

 _You may return now_

I could feel something building in my chest.

 _You need only state your purpose_

It was burning. My chest was filled with burning.

 _You are my Will_

Oh God, I was drowning! Thrashing about I could feel nothing nor see nothing.

Yet I was still in the void. And then the light appeared. Light and energy of an Understanding transfer, filling me, telling me, teaching me.

Deep. I was still sinking. I could feel silt. I had finally hit the bottom. Was this how it ended. Failing everybody. Drowning while blind and helpless.

Huh, so that's how Slen Tid Vo worked. It was localized time-space and reality manipulation. It was like taking the book which said "The cat sat on the mat. The cat died. The world kept on turning." and then turning back time and making sure the sentence that said "the cat died" wasn't written. "Reality" would then read the book and say "The cat sat on the mat. The world kept on turning. - therefore, the cat must still be sitting on the mat. In this case though, it would only work on dragon souls.

Oh god, I- _**I WILL NOT DIE YET. HAAS SIEN GRON.**_

I could feel it. Flesh slowly knitted together, muscles reformed, organs reconstructed, nerves re-grew. Running through my other two healing shouts, I slowly rebuilt my crushed and shattered body. I was the Wolverine of dragons with these shouts. All I needed was time to recover.

 _Over here_

Slowly dragging my way across the silty bottom, I followed the feeling until it stopped. My lungs were burning up and my head was thundering. I needed air!

 _Right here. Right here._

There was no air underwater. I should not have been able to hear anything, yet I did.

 _ **"SLEN TIID VO."**_

For a moment nothing happened. Then I kicked off the bottom and rose as a pillar of light burst out of the silted lake bed. Rising with it, I erupted from the water and into the sky as it followed behind me. Hauling myself through the air, I was over taken by the rising pillar of purple energy and lightning.

Hovering inside it, I bathed in the energies. Letting them dance over my skin. I laughed. I was alive. This was power. It was time to serve.

Bursting out of the light-pillar, I saw that the battle had moved since my plunge into the depths. The fires had now traveled and spread to the residential district on the Northwest side of Windhelm. I had no intentions of getting that close to dying again. It was time to level the playing field.

I slowly turned and hovered before the pillar. Looking down, I could see that it had formed something almost like a reverse-whirlpool in the center of the lake. Blasting away and tearing at the lake bed, a small pile of bones were revealed.

 _ **"Keinvothgeinmaar! Hear my cry!**_

The winds roared and thunder bellowed from the sky.

 _ **"Return to us! Lend us your aid! Strike down your mortal enemy risen once again!"**_

The pillar seemed to pulse and the bones began to rise from the dirt, rising through the air to hover before me inside the pillar.

 _ **"He Who Wars With Oneself! Nomad of Justice! Protect of Life! RISE!"**_

Bones burned and shone as flesh and scale slowly dissolved into existence. For the first time in millennia, the Legendary Dragon, Keinvothgeinmaar roared his voice to the world.

He then took me thoroughly by surprise and dived at me, catching me off guard and sending us flying back into Windhelm, to crash on the ground in the courtyard I had almost been killed in. Placing a clawed foot on my neck, he stared intently at me.

 **Who are you? Why have you raised me? Who are you to know the World Eater's thu'um?"**

 _ **"I am the Will of Talos. Fendotalos. I raised you as we require your aid!"**_

Keinvothgeinmaar narrowed his eyes.

 **"Require my aid for what."**

 _ **"Your nemesis Sahloknir! He has-"**_

I was cut off just then by the sound of something exploding. Glancing off into the distance, Keinvothgeinmaar slowly stepped off my neck.

 **"What ever your purpose for raising me, I know you can't possibly be affiliated with Alduin if you know that thu'um. He guards it's understanding jealously, meaning you either stole it from him or copied it somehow. Either one is good enough for me."**

Taking to the air, I paused for a moment before following him. As we passed over the residential area, we could see it was in ruins and many parts were burned down by now.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

"Fus Ro Dah!"

My heart leapt. Erika had survived. Along with Ulfric and the Stormcloaks, they seemed to be trying to draw Sahloknir into following them so that the could lead him out of the city. They were now darting in and out of his reach, harassing him and not allowing him to rest. After blasting me through the wall and into the lake, he seemed to have only gotten weaker, while I had re-healed almost completely and brought back up.

As Keinvothgeinmaar descended, I slowly rose upwards to the clouds. Hopefully I'd be able to ambush-attack Sahloknir. Landing on top of a tower, Keinvothgeinmaar called out.

 **Sahloknir!"**

The Champion of Alduin turned, a mixture of shock and entertainment on his face.

 **"Keinvothgeinmaar! It seems I truly am blessed today. Not only do I get to burn down this pathetic ant hill, kill a dragonborn and end a traitor, I get to kill you once again!"**

 **"I won't let you get away this time Sahloknir! I'll stop you no matter what the cost!"**

"You can try. I'll crush you like I did before and like I just did earlier to the weakling traitor."

Keinvothgeinmaar raised a scaly eyebrow.

 **"What weakling traitor."**

Round Two. FIGHT!

 _ **"Joor Zar Frul! Strun Bah Qo! Sah Kaal Fen!"**_

Taking the Dragonrend straight to the face, Sahloknir stared up in horror as one White Dragon of Talos and twelve Valkyries collided with him.

 **"IMPOSSIBLE! YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!"  
** _ **  
"THE WILL OF TALOS GOT BETTER!"**_ _  
_  
Tearing into his neck, I ignored his cries of pain before tossing him to the side and through a building.

"Fendotalos!"

I turned to see a shocked Erika staring at me. Well I suppose that was understandable seeing as the last time she saw me, I was turned into dragon-hamburger meat and blasted through a stone wall.

 **"I'LL END YOU!"**

I swung back around to attack Sahloknir as he charged towards me, only to see him get sideswiped by Keinvothgeinmaar and thrown though a building.

 **"I'LL USE YOUR BONES AS TOOTH PICKS!"**

Tail-whipping Keinvothgeinmaar away, he was then caught off guard as Erika hit him in the face with a fire-breath and then I caught him in the chest with Dragonrend. Roaring something indecipherable, he then blasted me away with Unrelenting Force, before using his trademark Slow Time and Whirlwind Sprint combo to jump to the roof of a building and then leap off at Keinvothgeinmaar. Spiraling through the air, the two dragons slowly moved back into central Windhelm, before finally smashing through the temple of Talos.

Quickly catching up, I discovered them having the draconic version of a no holds barred beat down in the middle of the ruined temple.

 **"Tell me Keinvothgeinmaar, why are you so willing to throw your life away?"**

Ducking under a bite from Sahloknir, Keinvothgeinmaar then released an Unrelenting Force straight into Sahloknir's chest, blasting him away, through a wall and out into the streets.

 **"You should be asking yourself that question Sahloknir."**

Opening his mouth to shout an ice-breath at Keinvothgeinmaar, I dived in and tackled Sahloknir through a wall before releasing a Dragonrend at him. Managing to dodge it, he was still left open for Erika who then used Unrelenting Force to send him into a different building.

 **"TRAITORS! WEAKLINGS! I WILL GRIND YOU INTO THE DIRT!"**

Dodging a ice-blast from Erika and then leaping backwards to avoid a field of spikes I created with stone raise, it was Keinvothgeinmaar who managed to get a hit in this time, tackling him through a series of shops and houses as they rolled, bit and clawed at one another. As Erika and I tried to catch up, they suddenly fell and disappeared from view.

Once we caught up, we could see what had happened. The two dragons had rolled into the lower area of the Windhelm graveyard. Once again they were going at each other with a ferocity I had never seen dragons fight with.

 **"You still fight for the weak Keinvothgeinmaar!"**

Sahloknir then Unrelenting Forced Keinvothgeinmaar into a wall before head butting him.

 **"And that is why you lose!"**

Before he could melt Keinvothgeinmaar's face with fire-breath, Erika hit Sahloknir with ice-form, as I then tackled him through a series of grave stones and a stone wall. As he attempted to stand up, Erika used Stone Raise to spear him repeatedly in the chest and stomach. Crying out in pain, he had no time to see Keinvothgeinmaar use Whirlwind Sprint to catch up and then use Unrelenting Force to blast him through another building. Before Sahloknir could even react, Keinvothgeinmaar began to once again savage him before being kicked off and thrown into the side of a shop.

As Erika, some Valkyries and I caught him off guard once more, he used Slow Time and Whirlwind Sprint to dodge the attacks of Erika and the Valkyries, only to then be caught by my Dragonrend. Screaming in agony, He was then tackled and pushed through series of market stalls by Keinvothgeinmaar.

 **"At the end of this night, one of us shall stand, one of us shall fall."**

"Yesss...And it shall be me!"

Diving at one another and then tearing into each other necks, the fight now spilled into the Stone Quarter Marketplace proper.

 _ **"JOOR ZAH FRUL**_

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

Catching Sahloknir in the back with our shouts, he reared back and roared in agony before Keinvothgeinmaar tail-whipped him and I Unrelenting Forced him through a Tailors.

"Divines. This guy just won't die."

 **"You...shall...know...pain!..."**

 _ **"We're almost there at least.**_

Charging in, I joined Keinvothgeinmaar in what was quickly becoming a savage battle of teeth and claws. As Sahloknir tried to kick me away and bite back at Keinvothgeinmaar, I manged to grab one of the "fingers" of his wing in my mouth. Biting down hard and twisting, I ripped it off causing him to scream and become distracted long enough for Keinvothgeinmaar to grab onto his neck. Tail-whipping me away he then tussled and strained against Keinvothgeinmaar, before with a sickening sound, Keinvothgeinmaar came away with a section of Sahloknir's neck.  
 **  
"kiru...ru...aru...kiru.."**

 _ **"WULD NAH KEST!**_

It was now my turn to savage and attempt to rip open Sahloknir's neck even further. Keinvothgeinmaar charged back over only to then be kicked away.

Now in a blind panic fueled rage, Sahloknir charged in random directions, whipping his head to and fro in an attempt to dislodge me. Finally throwing me off, he then shouted at me a mixture of Unrelenting Force, garbled speech and destroyed flesh and blood. As I collided with the side of a house, I looked just in time to see him charge at me.

 **"hhhuurgghhhhhh-HCK-**

He stopped?

Slowly he stumbled. Then his legs gave out and he fell.

Then I saw standing atop his back, a blood covered, soot stained Erika. She had driven her sword into Sahloknir's back, paralyzingly him. As he made pitiful sounds and attempted to rise to his unworking feet, Erika tried to draw her sword but found it stuck. Sighing, she walked further up the back of his struggling form before wrenching free the two-handed axe Galmar had left behind in Sahloknir's back. As Keinvothgeinmaar and I stood up, Erika then positioned herself atop of Sahloknir's neck. It was by no means a clean death and took her almost a dozen chops to finally cut and break his neck.

Obviously ready to collapse from exhaustion Erika slid down from his neck and fell to her knees as Sahloknir's corpse began to dissolve and burn.

The Champion of Alduin was dead.

 **Journal Entry #39 Collateral**

Windhelm is now a strange mixture of mostly leveled and still intact areas.

It can be definitively said that really, the only three areas of the city not to take damage were the Palace of the Kings, the docks and the Grey Quarter. The rest of the city is now separated and cris-crossed by paths of destruction and damage. From the air, it now looks like Windhelm has been tunneled out and turned into a giant ant farm.

While the damage varies from district to district, the largest path of destruction is a wide corridor of destroyed buildings created by Sahloknir after he used Unrelenting Force to, as Erika put it "Tenderize me like a bloody steak". I saw the section of wall he put me through earlier. There's blood everywhere and even scraps of my flesh and armor. Of the wall itself, there is now a dragon-sized section of it obliterated and thrown into the bay.

The main gate is also destroyed. First burned by Sahloknir and then blown apart during his opening salvo at me. There's guards posted there now, but with the the current state the city is in and the constant stream of people rushing in and out, as well as carts bringing in aid and removing rubble and debris, you could probably invade this place by simply having your army march in dressed in rags or hidden in carts.

Casualty numbers vary from area to area. The two biggest places hit though, would have to be the Northeast residential district and the southern gate district. Big chunks and a wide path through those areas are now gone, burned down by Sahloknir after he "killed" me. The next area to lose a great many people was Central Windhelm, in particular the areas north and south of Candlehearth. I try not to think about it, but I think a great many of those casualties are from Sahloknir and I going through buildings and when he wreaking-balled me from Candlehearth to the south gate. The Stone Quarter mechantile district and the area surrounding the courtyard south of the Palace of the Kings are currently near even in terms of casualties, but it's reckoned that final numbers will show the Stone Quater to have lost more people.

Current numbers are saying more than three hundred and fifty people are dead and the numbers are still rising as more bodies are dug out of the rubble. Estimates say that probably three times that number are injured and the final death toll might be somewhere in the late four hundreds to low five hundreds, but the final number is probably going to be up in the air for a while.

God I feel exhausted. For the past three days I've been camped out in the ruins of the Temple of Talos healing people and performing rights and prayers of the dead. I feel ready to crash if I stop moving for too long, but I need to keep going. There's people to heal. Broken limbs, impaled flesh, shattered bone, burned skin and muscles, crushed chests, ruptured organs, internal bleeding, blood loss. It all starts blurring together. I feel like a robot on an assembly line. Victim arrives, diagnose problem, heal, next patient, ad continuum.

I was worried how the locals would react to Keinvothgeinmaar and he to the locals. Thankfully it appears he actually wants to help out and has been offering his aid all across Windhelm. After the battle and destruction wreaked across the city, the people of Windhelm didn't really seem to give a fuck as long as he didn't try and kill them. It probably helped that my reputation as the White Dragon of Talos seems to have preceded me. The general assumption and rumors I heard whispered amongst the people as I healed their family members and friends was that Keinvothgeinmaar must have been some long dead dragon I brought back to life, but in exchange he would be compelled by Talos to help the humans and save Windhelm. Keinvothgeinmaar himself doesn't seem to care what they think, and currently follows the search parties and rescue teams across the city, digging through rubble and lifting debris like a draconic bulldozer or crane.

Erika got Sahloknir's soul but I doubt she has had anytime to meditate on what she may have gained or learned from absorbing him. Almost as soon as the battle was over, she reunited with Lydia and Delphine before the three of them joined in with the rescue efforts. I'm worried for her. I saw Morthal get burned to the ground, and seeing the damage to Windhelm makes me feel like I failed. I failed my promise to not let there be another Morthal. I can't imagine what must be going through her head. She saw Helgen and the Western Watchtower. And now this. I have no doubt that she's simply auto-piloting through it all right now. She bottling everything down and trying to ignore it all.

I think we all are.

I need to decompress. I need to rest. I need to get this shit out of my system. I look at the city and I want to curse and scream. I want to roar and rage at this failure. I want to cry out at the unfairness of this. I want to question wether I could have been better? If there was something else I could have done to prepare for this? Should I have devoted less time to Erika instead of allowing my own progress to slow? I want to react how a person deals with this kind of tragedy. I want to be human for once in a long time.

But I can't.

I'm the Will of Talos. I need to be these people's "rock". I see it in the way they look around. They need guidance and support. They need something that says "the gods have have not abandoned you". They want a wise and sage pillar of strength to lean against right now. They want a presence that can tower above them and look like they are cool, calm and confident in what they are saying and doing.

Once I'm no longer needed to heal or perform burial rights, I'm thinking about just making a sound-proof box using Stone-Raise and locking myself in it for an hour or two. I need to be in the right frame of mind, when I help Erika deal with this and how I feel right now is not the right frame of mind.

Economically, Windhelm is probably going to be up Shit-Creek for the next few months. In Whiterun, most of the damage was confined to a small section of the city, allowing everywhere else to continue on as usual. Here in Windhelm, it's going to be months before the different parts of the city are rebuilt. The city probably won't completely recover for years.

The various political shit-storms are already brewing. One of the big debates going on right now is what sections of the city should get prioritized for being rebuilt. Most people want the residential areas rebuilt as quickly as possible before winter, which is only a few months away, while others are pointing out that they should focus on the market and trader districts first as without money and trade, and with the demands of the war, it's unlikely they'll be able to rebuild that quickly anyway.

The second big argument that's going on is whether part of the blame for the sheer amount of damage and death lies with the civil war. I'm not sure how much of a difference it would have made, but apparently there's a number of people who are saying that with the return of the dragons, they should have called off the civil war or called a cease fire, otherwise they could have at least pulled more troops away from the front to defend towns and cities. I doubt that having more soldiers and guards would have made much difference if Erika and I were not here and those soldiers were probably needed for whatever they were doing, so this is most likely going end up being one of those kinds of arguments which sound "logical" in theory, but reality doesn't let it be that simple.

The final really big thing that's on everybody's lips right now is the orders that were given for the dragon fight to be contained and driven into the Grey-Quarter. No one actually knows, or is willing to confess, where along the line of messengers and chain of command "Contain the dragons!" became "Contain the dragons in the Grey Quarter!". What is known is that Ulfric ordered for the fight to be contained while he and Galmar moved soldiers around the place in order to try and set a trap. Runners were sent out to spread the orders and figure out which parts of the city the different units were in, before more runners were dispatched to deliver replies and unit co-ordinations.

Whether the order was given because we were nearby the Grey Quarter, or somebody considered the Dunmer so worthless that driving dragons into their homes was acceptable, the excretment has hit the rotary blades for Dunmer-Nord relations. This was the straw that broke the camels back. There's a lot of resentment and jelousy against the Dunmer right now, due to the Grey Quarter being one of the only undamaged districts, and a number of the Dunmer are banding together for "protection from the Nords". Currently on the sidelines are the argonians, and adding fuel to the fire is a portion of the Grey Quarter population who are now planning to leave.

They have no current goal or destination and right now, are still in the city trying to convince their fellow Dunmer to leave with them. It sort of shows how much of a problem this has gotten since last night, a family of Dunmer were literally kicked out of their house on the grounds "this building is for Nords! Go back to Morrowind!" and elsewhere a bunch of Dunmer beat up some Nords who were passing through the district because the Dunmer thought they were "going to try something". This morning I heard another two Dunmer discussing what they would do or where they would go if they decided to leave and their general agreement was "Anything and anywhere is better than this place". This is the middle of a civil war. Traveling right now is a dangerous prospect, even for the larger trade caravans.

Good god, I wish I was back in Whiterun.

No death. No destruction. No learning the political ramifications of what's happened. No kicking myself for not being more powerful. No having to continuously play the Will of Talos. No feeling like I need to stick my head into the sand and scream.

Just meditation, helping the rebuild progress, teaching Erika and having to deal with Heimskr every now and again.

I want to go back to my grove.

 **Journal Entry #40 To Help and Protect**

After five days, my services at the temple were no longer urgently needed.

With the sheer number of people I treated, I'm pretty sure the everybody in Windhelm personally knows somebody who I healed or knows somebody who knows somebody I healed. It's like two degrees of separation, only involving draconic Will of Talos "healing miracles".

Making for the river, I took to the air and circled the bay for a few minutes. Then closing my wings, I dived out of the sky and into the freezing depths. Swimming downwards, I forced myself through the water until I could feel the silty bottom I had almost met my end on.

Safe deep below the waves where none could see or hear, I spent a good few minutes shouting and ranting, pouring out my rage and anger. When I began to run out of breath, I returned to the surface before diving once more, this time to release my sorrows and frustration. Repeating this multiple times, I made sure to feel and deal with it all. To allow it to pass through my mind and soul, leaving me and allowing me to remove some of the weight from my shoulders and the heaviness of my heart.

When I was finally done, I swam back to the shore before deciding to walk rather than fly back to the temple. I felt better than before, but walking would maybe give me time to continue ordering my thoughts. Plus being on the ground helped me feel more in touch and "human" with things. Hauling myself up the cliffs and then into the city through the hole in the wall, I began to travel the empty streets back to my temporary home.

While the main roads were hives of activity, the devastated portions of the district felt like a ghost town. People had already scoured these ruins for survivors and moved on to search elsewhere. Even the sight of the newly made homeless picking through the ruins for their belongs was a rare one. There was either nothing left to pick up, or they were busy elsewhere and had placed their trust in the city guards to patrol the areas for looters. The silence was erie.

Then while traveling down a destroyed side street, I heard it. The sounds of a child crying. The heavy choking sobs of when somebody has reached rock bottom. Diverting my course, I found a young boy siting atop the ruins of a house. The structure was strangely familiar, but there was so little of it left, I could not remember what it had been in game.

Sitting a top the ruins of the home, the young boy clutched something to his chest as he sobbed. I thought that he would have heard my approach but either didn't hear my or paid not attention to the sound of my movements. Unsure what to do and not seeing anybody else around, let alone anybody who looked like they knew the boy, I gently spoke.

 **"Tell me child. What is wrong?"**

Not bothering to turn around, he momentarily stopped sobbing and then took a shuddering breath.

"Everything!"

Breathing heavily, he sounded ready to keep crying.

 **"Why are you alone out here? It is not safe to search amongst the ruins without help."**

He didn't seem to feel any inclination to turn around, nor did he seem to care about or notice the odd sounding deepness of my draconic voice. Instead he gave what sounded like a mixture of a cry and laugh.

"I'm always alone. And nobody ever helps me. Nobody."

I was close to placing where I was and I had a feeling I knew the kid from in-game as well.

 **"Surely there is somebody-"**

"NOBODY! There is nobody! Mother died, Grelod would rather have drowned me, everybody wanted me to go back to that place and nobody would help me save the other orphans. Not even the Dark Brotherhood."

Holy shit! This was the Aretino Residence. And this kid was Aventus Aretino.

 **"To contact the Dark Brotherhood requires a dark ritual. Where did you get the body from?"**

He laughed mirthlessly.

"My mother. After I escaped from the orphanage and came back home, I stole her body from the Hall of the Dead. I almost got caught doing it. But it was a waste of time."

 **"They did not come?"**

He made a choked sounding snarl.

"I prayed and chanted the Black Sacrement so many times but nobody came. It's the story of my life. Everybody leaves me. Nobody helps me. Not the dark powers of the world and certainly not the divines."

I sighed sadly. This was not the kind of shit I wanted to deal with right now. I needed to go back to the temple and check up on my "patients". And then when I finally had another chance to leave, I needed to track down Erika and see how she was dealing with everything. Oh and then there was Keinvothgeinmaar. Definitely needed to talk to him at some point.

"It is said that the divines do not help those who do not help themselves."

Suddenly he grabbed a battered object from the ground and then spun around, releasing and throwing it at me angrily.

 **"How would you know what the divines would or would not do!"**

It was rather amusing to watch his expression change as the book, "A Kiss Sweet Mother", bounced off of my armored face and he realized the person he had been talking to was actually not a person, but the White Dragon of Talos.

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."

I chuckled sadly.

 **"No apologies are needed."**

After a moment, he sat back down in shock.

"Are...are you here to help? I don't even care about what happens to me. I just want to stop Grelod."

I suddenly felt a thrill of revulsion and shock when he picked up the object he had been cradling to his chest. It was the skull from the corpse he had used to try and perform the Black Sacrament. Staring blankly into the eye sockets, he continued.

"I want to stop her. I've been gone for months. What about the others? I don't want her to hurt any of the others."

I gave another tired, sad sigh.

 **"I am sorry. But this is something I can not do. My duties already require me elsewhere."  
**  
But that didn't mean I had plans to "accidentally" land on top of the old hag if I ever went to Riften.

"Hm. I thought so."

He didn't even bother looking up. For the next few minutes he just sat there staring at his mothers skull. It was depressing. The poor kid had poured everything into a wayward attempt to help his friends and failed. Now he looked ready to just sit on top of what was left of his home and stare at that skull until the elements came and took him.

I was about to turn away and head back to the Temple when I felt a question come forth from the back of my mind.

 **"Why did you do it?"**

"What?"

 **"Why did you seek to kill Grelod?"**

He looked away and then stared at the skull, looking thoughtful for a few seconds before speaking.

"At first...at first I thought I wanted to do it because of how we were all treated. But then I didn't care. I just wanted to help the rest of them. I didn't care what the assassin wanted or took from me. I just wanted to protect them."[/b]

I raised an eye brow and then glanced thoughtfully up at the sky before muttering to myself;

 **"Talos Protects."**

"What?"

Looking back, I didn't realize that he had heard me.

 **"Talos Protects. A phrase I find myself repeating often."**

Slowly turning around I prepared to set off for the temple once more.

 **"Although, as his Will I suppose I should not be surprised I am required to protect so often in times like these."**

After a few moments, the sudden sound of feet scrambling over wood and stone caused me to pause.

"Wait! Don't leave!"

Turning around, I saw him reach the street level and look up at me.

"What you said earlier. The divines do not help those who do not help themselves. What would..."

He paused and looked unsure before I stared down at him and nodded.

 **"Go on."**

He took a breath.

"What would Talos do if somebody needed help to help others? Would he help somebody protect people if they were already trying to protect them?"

Unsure where this was going I answered truthfully.

 **"He already does so. He has lent me his aid many times in the past during my protection of others. A good many people across Skyrim live because he has done so."**

Sitting back down on the ground, he then stared at the skull contemplatively. After a minute or two of being slightly disturbed at the sight of a kid giving his mother's skull a thousand yard stare, I turned away and once more set off for the ruined Temple of Talos. A number of minutes later and having walked for a couple of blocks, I then heard the sound of running.

Turning around, I saw Aventus running to catch up with me, a simple satchel slung over his shoulder a cloth bundle tied to his belt.

"Wait for me! I'm coming with you!"

I stopped in shock.

 **"What? Why?"**

Breathless, he came to rest before me and panted as he answered.

"I want to be able to help people. I want to protect them like you do."

God I was sighing a lot today.

 **"The thought is an admirable one and a noble goal. But you can not follow me where I must go."**

"But how am I supposed to help people? Protect them?"

 **"Learn from those around you. Live honorably, be kind act just and you will already help a great many people."**

"But I want to be a protector! Like you!"

 **"It is dangerous where I must go and what I must do. Why not join the city guard once you are old enough if you wish to protect others?"**

"The guards stand around all day and break up drunken fights. I want to help and protect!"

I narrowed my eyes.

 **"Do you not understand when I speak of danger? You are too young and inexperienced for this."**

Turning around, I then began to walk away. As I did the sound of footsteps picked up behind me. Stopping, the footsteps stopped too. Taking another few steps forward, I stopped then turned around to see Aventus following me. Keeping an eye on him, I then took a few more steps forward. He just grinned and jogged forward so he remained exactly the same distance away as he followed me.

" **You are not going to stop following me are you?"**

He nodded his head determinedly.

"I'm going to learn how to help and protect people. I don't care what you think, but you're the best there is at helping others, so I'm going to follow you until you teach me."

 **"I already have a student."  
**  
Me and my big mouth.

"Then way can't you take me as well? I'll work just as hard! I'll be good I promise!"

By now I was tired, late and just wanted to get back to the temple.

 **"For the last time, you can not follow me. Come to the temple if you wish, but I will not be your teacher, nor will I allow you to journey with me once I am required elsewhere."  
**  
Ignoring his continued pleas for instructions in "how to protect people" I continued on my way. I thought about simply taking to the air, but practically everybody in Windhelm knew that I was basically living and working out of the temple ruins right now. He'd probably just make his own way there on foot and keep bugging me.

Dear god. He just wouldn't shut up about asking me to teach him. I guess with the utter failure to summon the Dark Brotherhood and with his house wreaked, his knew "protecting people" fixation must be his way of coping. He was only ten years old so I was hoping to god, and would maybe pray to Talos that he'd lose interest and stop chasing me after a while. Although, there was a chance this could end up being a permanent fixation.

Fuck, I hope I didn't just make the Skyrim equivalent of Shiro Emiya.

Either way, it looked like as long as I was in Windhelm, I'd have my own version of the Annoying Fan. I'd have to figure out what to do with him when I go to check up on Erika and Keinvothgeinmaar.

As we walked down the streets of Windhelm, I glanced back to examine Aventus. His hair was slightly longer than in-game and was rather messy and unkempt, and his skin was pale and thin. His clothes were rather worn and coming to bits, looking like they needed to be replaced. He generally had the look of a half-starved elven or twelve year old who had been forced to fend for themselves for the last few months and had spent most of that time hidden away inside. Which probably was the case. The small satchel he carried was decently made, although rather ragged looking and frayed. It was small and yet probably contained all of his worldly possessions.

Then I noticed something. The cloth bundle tied to his waist. It was about the size and roughly the shape of a human skull.

 **"Please tell me that is not what I think it is."**

 **Journal Entry #41 Strength and Grieving**

Aventus refuses to stop following me.

When I got back to the temple, he continued to tail me and hang around, even when I was trying to heal people. I suppose after hanging around a dead body for the past few months, and as mentally screwed as he seems to be, it shouldn't be surprising that even when I told him to leave as I needed to heal something particularly nasty, he would then sneak back behind me and then watch as I tried to heal compound fractures, crushed limbs and third degree burns victims.

Eventually he started asking questions about the different parts of the body I was healing, how to fix them normally and how different injuries should be treated. Thankfully he seemed to catch on that I was too busy using healing shouts to answer and instead took to trying to help Jora and Lortheim, the two priests of Talos, by running around grabbing potions, bandages and other things they needed.

I think Jora may have grown a little soft spot for Aventus due to his "studious will to help in any way he could around the temple". After digging around in a closet at the back of the temple, she found an old hooded monks robe like her own which she then cut and hemmed to fit Aventus so that he had something to wear other than his own ragged and frayed clothes. Aventus must have seen this as some sort of acceptance and reward for what he was doing, because the next thing I knew, he had emptied his satchel and acquired a belt covered in pouches from somewhere. He then filled his satchel and his new extra pockets with bandages, potions, medicines, healing balms and a variety of other things, including amulets of Talos, and a prayer book of Talos.

He still refuses to be separated from his mother's skull, but thankfully a compromise was made and he makes sure to always keep it hidden, wrapped in cloth and stored in a sack tied to his belt of pouches. This kid is going to be so screwed in the head when he gets older I just know it.

The finally straw was when the next day, I was getting ready to take a break and leave to find Erika, when I discovered him leaning over a injured person who was currently asleep whispering "Hass Sein Gron".

 **"What are you doing?"**

He leapt away from the sleeping person and turned to me, looking like he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"I was...uh, nothing, I was just giving them a potion."

 **"You were trying to give a potion to a sleeping person? A person who, incase you haven't noticed, is lying on their front?"**

Looking up at me and speaking with complete and total honesty he then replied;

"Yes. I was doing exactly that."

The kid had audacity, I had to give him that.

 **"Aventus. Please don't lie. What were you really doing?"**

I had a fair idea of what he really was trying to do, but I wanted to hear it from him first. He looked down guiltily.

"I was just trying to heal people like you do. I just wanted to help them."

I sighed.

 **"Aventus. What I do is rather unique. Very few beings can do what I can, and even fewer can or choose to use it to help others. Without the natural gift of the Voice, it can take years to learn what I can do."**

He now looked even more dejected.

"But I just want to help people."

Looking around, I noticed Lortheim writing out a note and counting out gold septims as he looked over the temple's depleted looking stock of potions.

 **"Lortheim, do we require potions once more?"**

He looked up in surprise before completing his list and answering.

"Aye, we need more healing potions, as well as medicine, burn salves and bandages. I was about to make a run and pick up some more, but I don't want to leave Jora without my help for too long."

I thought things over for a moment, before deciding upon a course of action.

 **"Leave the list and appropriate amount of gold on the table. I believe I may have found a way for Aventus to lend us his aid."**

Looking at me strangely, but trusting that as the Will of Talos I knew what I was doing, Lortheim left behind the requested items as I turned to a curious and hopeful looking Aventus.

"What do you need me to do? Where do I have to go? Do I need anything? How can I help?"

" **Slow yourself Aventus, now tell me, do you know of a alchemist's store in the Stone Quarter by the name of the White Phial?"**

He nodded eagerly.

"I know where it is. It's owned by that old elf who's trying to find some sort of magic potion thing right?"

 **"Correct. Would you be willing to go there and place an order for the things Lortheim and Jora require?"**

He looked elated that I finally had something I wanted him to do.

"I can do it! don't worry, I'll be back with the potions as soon as possible!"

Gently holding out a wing between him and the table on which the list and gold sat, I continued speaking.

" **This is an important thing I ask of you Aventus. This is a lot of gold to handle and these potions and medicines are required for people who may desperately need them. Can I trust you to do this?"**

He nodded determinedly.

"You can trust me."

I smiled and retracted my wing.

 **"Good. When you get to the White Phial, look for a man called Quintus Navale. He will probably be easier to talk with than old Nurelion. Give him the list of needed items and gold and tell him they are required for the Temple of Talos."**

Picking up the list and gold, Aventus placed them in one of his pouches and moved to leave the temple, only to be interrupted by me speaking up again.

 **"It will probably be some time before the potions are brewed. Why not stay around the White Phial until they are complete, rather than placing the order, returning here and then having to return to the White Phial to pick up the potions and medicine. Who knows, you might learn a thing or two about alchemy. Having the ability to create healing potions and medicines is always a useful skill."**

He grinned.

"Yeah! That's a great idea!"

As he dashed out of the temple, he collided with somebody, but was in such a rush he didn't notice. Walking to the entrance, I decided to see who it was.

 **"Greetings. I must apologize for - Erika?"**

I was rather caught off guard as I had been only just about to leave and look for her. Without her armor or weapons and dressed in heavy work clothes, she had obviously been working with the search and rescue efforts.

 **"I was just about to search for you. Are you okay?"  
**  
She looked tired as she glanced around. She most likely hadn't been sleeping well.

"Can we...is there somewhere we can go to have some privacy."

Looking around, I motioned for her to climb onto my back. Once in the square outside the temple, I then spread my wings and took to the air. Throughout our entire trip to a small hill outside the city, we were silent. Both of us ordering our thoughts.

Once we had landed and she had dismounted, I turned around to face her.

 **"I must apologize to you Erika. I wish I could have spoken with you sooner but I have either been unable to leave the temple or busy for the past few days."**

She looked away and glanced at the destroyed city.

"Don't apologize. It was...it was probably for the best that I had a few days to take everything in."

I raised an eye brow.

 **"What do you mean."**

She smiled ruefully

"After the battle. I didn't want to think about it. It felt so much like Helgen. I threw myself into helping with the rescue efforts. According to Lydia and Delphine, I just worked myself until I dropped."

She looked uncomfortable and bit her lip.

"I had nightmares. Everything just reminded me of Helgen. I didn't want to sleep. I went back to helping with the search for survivors and spent a few hours just running on stamina potions."

I frowned.

 **"That sort of thing is not good for you Erika. Remember what I said about emotions. They are meant to be felt, faced and accepted."**

She nodded in agreement.

"After the second day, Lydia told me that maybe I should meditate and Delphine said something about it being familiar enough to help me decompress."

 **"Wise words. You followed their advice I take it?"**

"I did. I realized that as bad as things were, they could have been worse. If we hadn't been there. If we had faced Sahloknir elsewhere. If Keinvothgeinmaar's bones hadn't been nearby. If Sahloknir had actually killed you..."

I chuckled sadly.

 **"I believe my survival is technically debatable, but never the less, you are right. The fate of Windhelm could easily be much worse than this. At least now we may pray that the city recovers with time, that businesses and trade can be restored, and that family and friends may find solace after the losses they have experienced. But these realizations are not the only reason you sought me out, are they Erika?"**

She looked away, somewhat angry and shameful.

"I still think we could have done better. Been better. That there shouldn't have been so many lives lost. I feel like I need to get stronger. Like I have to be stronger"

I sighed and rested a dew-claw comfortingly on her shoulder.

 **"I would be worried if you did not feel these things Erika. It is simply our way of dealing with such events. All we can do is learn from them."**

Suddenly she shrugged off my dew-claw and turned away, kicking out at a nearby pile of rocks, sending stones and gravel rolling away downhill.

"I don't want to feel these things though! I have to be the dragonborn! Everyone expects me to be some great hero, yet I barely know what I'm supposed to do! How can I be a hero if so many people die?!

Still facing away from me, she sat down and buried her head in her knees. She didn't seem to be crying. Just frustrated and angry with herself. Then in a small voice, I heard her whisper;

"Why can't I be like you?"

She now turned back and looked up at me from the ground.

"How do you do it? How are you always so strong? You always know what to do and what to say. You're never scared of anything. You're never actually weak."

I smiled sadly and sat down in front of her. I still towered over her, but it was the gesture that mattered.

 **"I am not as infallible as you would think Erika."**

"But you are! I feel so small compared to everything. I feel like I should be stronger for everybody, not just physically, but like how you are as well. Everyone looks at you when they need help."

I was silent for a few moments before sighing and looking out over the bay.

 **"Do you know what I was doing in the lake the other day?"**

Erika looked surprised about the strange change in subject, but shook her head.

"Not really. Everyone saw you diving around in there yesterday, but nobody knows what you were actually doing."

For a few seconds I was silent before solemnly speaking.

 **"I was grieving."**

She looked caught off guard by this.

"What?"

 **"I am not the great pillar of strength you seem to think I am Erika. I feel these emotions and thoughts just as much as you do."**

"But you never show them?"

 **"There is a difference between feeling and showing Erika. I may not show them, but I still release my emotions and feelings in order to deal with them. I do so, so that I may help others do so more easily. You are not alone in feeling what you do. I do understand how it feels. Trust me when I say it is okay to feel like this. It is okay to want to cry. It is okay to be angry with yourself. It is okay to want to be better."**

She looked away and sniffled a little bit, but didn't seem to cry.

"I...thank you."

I smiled sadly.

 **"It is why I am here. To protect and guide those in need. Remember that you can always talk to Lydia or Delphine as well as myself, about these things. We will always be here for you."**

I was a bit surprised when she stood up and then walked towards me after which she then attempted to hug me around my neck. A few moments later, she let go and then looked away embarrassed.

"Thank you."

I gave a warm smile.

 **"It is fine Erika."**

After that, we chose to return to the city. Before we farewelled one another, she had one more question for me.

"Are you going to the memorial service tomorrow?"

I nodded. Marking a full week since the battle, this was supposed to be a memorial/wake/prayer service to honor and mourn all those who had been killed.

 **"I may not have known these people in life, but as the Will of Talos, I am also his representative. Many of those killed were followers of his, so it would be unforgivable of me to not take the time to honor their sacrifice."**

Erika looked to the sky thoughtfully.

"At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. I wasn't sure if I would have been able be strong throughout the service. Now I think it might be good for me to go."

I nodded once more.

 **"Maybe I shall see you there then. I'll be leading some of the prayers, so we will most likely only meet one another after the end of the service."**

Before saying goodbye and turning away, Erika looked thoughtful and spoke.

"You might meet Ulfric Stormcloack. He's supposed to lead a few parts of the service as well."

 **Journal Entry #42 Stormcloak**

The memorial was a very somber affair. Taking place in the great courtyard outside the entrance to the Palace of Kings, most of the population of Windhelm must have turned up.

With the main "stage" being the top of the stairs before the entrance to the Palace of the Kings, I ended up perching atop the ruins of one of the walls dividing the two courtyards. From my position, I could easily look over the crowd and be heard and seen by the people below. I was actually able to pick out Erika, Lydia, Delphine and Aventus in the crowd, but they were further towards the back and it didn't feel right to leave my position once I took it.

Keinvothgeinmaar was also present, but he was roosting on top of a ruined building at the far side of the square. With his head bowed deeply and respectfully, I think he may have actually felt for these people even if he didn't know them. I'm taking it as another sign that Paarthurnax and M'aiq knew what they were doing when they asked me to raise him. So far, aside from people generally being a little bit wary of him, he seems to have had no problems with anybody. He apparently has taken a liking to the Dunmer for some reason.

I'd like to say I actually did something of note aside from turning up, leading prayers, performing rights and generally towering over everything like a silent sentinel, but really, that was all I did. Maybe in future I'd end up delivering some great speech to the masses, but today I was basically playing pope/divine representative for Talos.

Also delivering speeches, leading prayers, and performing rights along with me or separately at differing times were important members and figures of the Windhelm community. Amongst them was Ulfric.

After the service, everybody headed off to their different locations to grieve, remember those they had lost, take comfort with one another's presence, continue praying elsewhere or in some cases, drink away their sorrows. I originally intended to seek out Erika and the others, but once the crowd had cleared enough space for me to potentially land in the square, I could not see them. After a number of minutes searching over the crowd for them I gave up. They had obviously been carried away by the mass of leaving people or had thought I would be unavailable to talk to right now. Deciding to make sure I found out where they were staying the next time I ran into them, I figured I may as well return to the ruined Temple of Talos incase anybody decided to go there after the service.

If I had bothered to land outside the temple before going in, rather than silently landing on what remained of the roof and entering, I probably would have seen the guards standing around and realized who was inside.

Whenever I was inside the Temple, I took care to try and be as silent and gentle with my movements as possible (at least for a dragon), simply out of respect for the peace, atmosphere and the other people already there. Thus I was already inside and wondering why there did not seem to be anybody else in the main area, when I heard the voice of Ulfric Stormcloak. Slowly moving towards the altar out of curiosity, I found him kneeling before the shrine praying. Strangely he did not seem to have heard me moving around.

"Talos. I pray for strength and guidance from you at this time."

He breathed slowly and I held still, the now all too familiar feeling at the back of my mind telling me to wait before revealing my presence.

"I pray that you may protect and guide the souls of my people who have lost their lives in this tragedy. I pray that those they have left behind may heal and recover from their losses. I pray that you watch over and guide their souls and the soul of my loyal comrade, general and friend, Galmar Stone-Fist to the gates of Soverngard.

I send thanks for the signs that you have not abandoned us. That you sent forth your champion to defend our city in it's hour of need saved more lives than we could have ourselves. Thanks must also be given that you gifted your champion with the power to heal as well as destroy.

But now I must ask of you. I fear for my people. I only want to do what is right for them. The dragons have returned but my soldiers and guards are already away from their homes. Skyrim cries out to be free of the Thalmor and Imperial rule, I know as much. But how? I can not wage a war against both as well as rebuilding and defending against dragons. I have been told by many what needs to be done, however I do not know what should be done.

I don't want to do the wrong thing. But I must do something. Please. Lend me your guidance."

 _Speak_

 **"Ask and you shall receive Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm."**

It was rather amusing watching him leap to his feet in shock, then rapidly turn around and realize he had had a dragon sitting behind him.

"You! But how? What are you doing here champion of Talos?"

I smiled knowingly.

 **"I am simply performing the Will of Talos."**

He looked at me cautiously for a few moments.

"Are you really his champion. His "Will" as you have been saying you are?"

 **"Indeed I am."**

He continued to eye me suspiciously.

"Why did he choose you? A dragon of all things?"

I chuckled and looked to the statue of Talos behind him.

 **"I some times ponder that thought myself. Although it does have a strange and ironic synergy if you think about it. The dragonborn gain their power from their draconic soul which originates from Akatosh, the dragon-god. A dragonborn founds an empire and later ascends to god-hood, essentially becoming a man-god. Millennia later, he sends forth a servant to be his Will on the mortal plane. A dragon empowered by a man-god, lending their aid to human empowered by a dragon-god."**

Ulfric continued to look unsure.

"Why are you here?"

I motioned at the statue of Talos.

 **"You asked for guidance, did you not?"**

For almost a minute we stood there, he seemingly unsure about me and I calmly waiting.

"What of my people? Will they recover from this?"

I shifted and glanced away, thoughtfully considering my answer.

 **"A difficult question. I can't say for sure what shall happen, but I do believe that with time and the right choices, the people of Windhelm can recover. This city has survived since the time of Ysgramor and as long as the hearts of it's citizens stay strong, it shall continue to survive into the future."**

"Then what must I do? How can I rebuild Windhelm and help my people move through this while in the middle of a war?"

I paused and considered his question. This would be the hinge on which the rest of our conversation would turn. I could feel it.

 **"There are many answers to that question. Many paths with many consequences. However I do know that the choice for what you may believe is right and what I would believe be best, are two different things."**

He looked confused for a moment

"What do you mean? If you believe it would be for the best, why not just tell me?"

I eyed him slowly.

 **"Remember that sometimes the truth which is most obvious, can be the hardest to see and is often the harshest medicine of all."**

Now he frowned at me.

"You speak in riddles dragon. Now tell me honestly, what must I do to save my people and my city."

Inhaling deeply, I paused for a moment to add weight to my words before speaking.

 **"Give up the war."**

There was a stunned silence as Ulfric stared at me like I had suddenly sprouted a second head or been momentarily replaced by Sheogorath.

"I...I'm sorry, could you repeat that. Did you just say 'Give up the war'?"

 **"Indeed I did.**

As he remained staring at me in a flabbergast manner, I decided to elaborate.

 **"I do not mean you should simply lay down your arms. It has already come too far for that. You must meet the Imperials at the negotiation table. At the very least stall them or call for a truce until the end of the dragon menace. Then find some way to secure a peaceful outcome to this war and a future for Skyrim that does not end with her children spilling their own blood and the blood of others across the land. Whether that peace can still be found as a free Skyrim or shall have to be found a under a Imperial banner remains to be seen. But this is my belief. Skyrim can not find peace through war. It shall only result in either your ends, or your children's ends."**

Ulfric continued to stare at me. Then he slowly began to curl his fists and his expression became ugly.

"Do...do you...Do you mean to tell me, that you think I should bow down to those milking drinking, limp-wristed, elf loving, corrupt, bastards?! How could you even think such a thing?"

I snorted.

 **"I believe I warned you that you would not like what I had to say. However in the greater scheme of things, Skyrim can not afford this war. Far greater threats are on the horizon and this only weakens Skyrim's chances of survival."  
**  
"How can you say that? How can you be a servant of Talos? The empire supports the Thalmor! You should be against them!"

I glared at Ulfric.

"The Empire only ever paid lip-service to those elvish scum. Before the war, the White-Gold Concordat and it's Thalmor imposers were not a true menace to his worshippers."

Now he seemed to be enraged by my words.

"Not a true menace?! Have you not seen their agents traversing our roads and executing our people? Have you not seen the slow destruction and removal of all things dedicated to Talos? How can you even think that Talos supports these actions? How are you his servant?!"

 **"I am his servant because I place faith and trust in his judgment and guidance."**

"No! You are delusional and foolish! Talos would never allow such things to pass! He would never have allowed his people to face such oppression!"

I growled angrily and slammed my wing in the ground, cratering the floor.

 **"It is you who is foolish Ulfric Stormcloak! Before your civil war, the empire had a chance of recovering, the Thalmor had no real reason for being here in force and White-Gold Concordat ban on Talos worship was barely followed. Now look at where we lie. The Empire's forces go into Skyrim rather than preparing for the eventual return of the Dominion and the Thalmor wander roads and towns across the countryside, citing your forces active and blatant worship of Talos as an excuse to exercise their power."  
**  
"They still enforced the ban of Talos worship! They place us Nords under their corrupt and greedy heels, bleeding us dry of the resources of our land and stealing the blood of our sons and daughters for their battles!"

I sighed slowly.

 **"Tell me Ulfric. Did you know Jarl Balgruuf still follows the worship of Talos in private?"**

He suddenly looked off guard by my change of subject.

"What?"

 **"Did you know that while secret, Jarl Ravencrone also still pays respect to Talos?**

"What relevance does this have to do with what we were discussing?"

I ignored him and continued.

 **"Did you know that Elisif the Fair, widowed wife of High King Torygg, also worships Talos? That Toryyg himself, had requested a traditional Nordic burial when he died?"  
**  
"I...I didn't know that...But what does this matter?! It only shows that the Imperial loving Jarls are hypocrites who support Talos and yet turn a blind eye to the plight the people of Skyrim! This war is not just about Talos either! It is about freeing the people of Skyrim from the oppression of an empire that no longer cares for it's people! It is the only way!"

I suddenly felt anger and annoyance run through me.

 **"You...You...** _ **FOOL!**_ **You foolish, impulsive hypocrite!"**

Ulfric reeled back at the sudden amount of venom and anger in my voice.

 _ **"Nobody cared about the damned ban!**_ **For years, a priest of Talos has preached openly on the streets of Whiterun. You speak of saving Skyrim from oppression when your own city is a hive of it! You talk as if war was the only way to earn Skyrim's** _ **independence when in reality "independence could have been sought peacefully!"**_

Confusion flared across Ulfric's face.

"What do you mean?"

I turned around angrily and looked up at the sky through a hole in the roof.

 **"You spoke of your ideas for an independent Skyrim at the moot to declare Torygg High King. Did it ever occur to you that just because none of the Jarls instantly threw their weight behind your cause, that some of them may have been taken by your idea?"**

"But they said nothing!"

 **"You openly proposed what was a shocking, revolutionary and damn near traitorous idea! Of course they would say nothing until they had fully weighed idea in their minds!"**

"That is still not a sure sign that they would have supported the idea. I had to challenge Torygg to prove my point and open the path to becoming High King!"

I spun back around to face him and gnashed my teeth.

 **"Torygg admired you! He would have supported your plans for a free Skyrim!"**

Open shock and a brief look of horror flashed across Ulfric's face.

"What...is this true?"

I nodded gravely while still glaring.

 **"When you sought to challenge Torygg, he thought you had come for other reasons. He and his court had gathered, originally believing you had come to explain more on your arguments for independence. If you had continued to seek a peaceful and diplomatic approach, Skyrim could have potentially succeeded from the Empire without incedent. Skyrim could have remained mostly whole and retained her political and trade connections with Cyrodiil."**

Ulfric's face was slowly paling.

"Divines...I...Even if this is true, I can not end the war. Too much now rides on it!"

I sighed and glared at Ulfric once more.

 **"Have you listened to nothing I have said? This war does nothing to help Skyrim!"**

"Tell me then dragon? How does it not help Skyrim?! To pull back now would devastate these people! They would be put down, crushed and forgotten once the empire returns! Even if I wanted to end it, I am now fighting for my people!"

I felt almost like head-butting him by this point.

 **"And if you do not stop fighting, you leave not just the rest of Skyrim, but all of Tamriel open to be put down, crushed and forgotten. Think! Use that supposedly brilliant tactical mind of yours! What better way to weaken your enemy before you stab him in the back, than by allowing discontent and rebellion to spread through his forces!"**

Realization finally hit Ulfric.

"The Thalmor? What do they care about this war, aside from killing more of those still loyal to Talos?"

 **"They care because it weakens the Empires ability to restore it's forces. Did you think the Dominion simply 'gave up' after the White-Gold Concordant? No. These are Altmer. A long lived and clever race. They knew what they were doing when they asked for the ban on Talos worship. They knew that** _ **one day**_ **, someone, somewhere, would kick up a fuss and drag everyone else down with them. And you have done so!"**

"I couldn't have...I-"

 _ **"They played you like a puppet!**_ **They regard you as an asset. They wish to keep the war going because they know that whether Skyrim succeeds or not, the will be no large enough force left in Cyrodill capable of defeating the Dominion without help."**

"...I...that's...they can't...I...what can I do?"

I narrowed my eyes and stared at him closely.

 **"Listen and heed my words well Jarl of Windhelm. Your actions will have far reaching consequences. What you choose to do can potentially save Skyrim. Save Tamriel. Maybe even Nirn. But to do so requires peace and alliances."**

He looked up at me, listening intently.

 **"Talos' dream was for a Tamriel united. You can set the foundations to help see his dream become reality once more. But you can not do so through war or as High King. Talos' greatest ability was not just to wage war. It was to govern and earn the respect and loyalty of his people. This allowed him to craft a cohesive empire that has withstood the test of time until this era."**

Slowly learning down, I held my head right next to Ulfric's and whispered.

 **"Why succeed from the Empire? Why not help return it to it's former glory?**

Slowly backing away, I then stood beneath one of the gaping holes in the temple's roof.

"How am I supposed to do this?"

 **"By starting with Windhelm of course. Earn the loyalty and respect of your citizens. All of them. Change the views of the others or at least lay the building blocks for future generations to do so. Restore your city to a paragon of Talos' dream of unity, not superiority, and the rest shall slowly fall into place. But first you shall need to deal and negotiate with the legion."  
**  
"I'm not sure if that is still possible."

I shrugged.

 **"Well even if it isn't, I would recommend seeking the word of Brunwolf Free-Winter. He would make a good advisor for you and may help with repairing the bonds of the people in this city. I impress upon you how serious this peace is needed."**

As I spread my wings, he glared at me with anger and frustration.

"I asked for guidance! Not for this!"

 **"Take of it what you may, I am merely the messenger. The rest is up to you."**

He was silent before speaking frustratedly.

"Talos Protects"

Nodding in agreement, I then launched myself through the missing section in the roof and then into the sunset filled sky.

 **Journal Entry #43 Wars With Oneself**

The day after my "conversation" with Ulfric, I decided it was high time I actually went and talked with Keinvothgeinmaar.

Of course Aventus was still following me. Only now he usually had his nose in a book as he attempted to tail me everywhere. After returning from the White Phial with the temple's much needed supplies, he had apparently picked up an interest in Alchemy. He had recently managed to scrounge up a number of books, beginner's guides and recipes (probably looted from the ruins) and now spent much of his time reading them when he was not attempting to "learn" from me, or help Jora and Lortheim around the temple.

Deciding I'd prefer to walk part of the way to the section of the Grey Quarter Keinvothgeinmaar had settled in, Aventus had decided he wished to come with me. In all honesty, he was not really all that annoying now. For some reason he seemed to have latched onto the idea that I was some sort of idol he should strive to imitate. At least now he had realized that I would not be teaching him directly. He had a hell of a lot of drive and patience for a eleven year old, even if he was probably only learning at a snails pace.

As we traveled through the streets of Windhelm, I noticed that rather than a book on potions, he was currently frowning in concentration and confusion as he leafed through a book on basic introductions to enchanting.

 **"You are studying enchantments now?"**

He looked up at me in confusion.

"What?"

 **"The text you are currently reading is on enchanting. I thought that alchemy had caught your interest?"**

Aventus just shrugged and returned his eyes to his book.

"After the memorial, I went back to the White Phial to talk to Mr Navale. When he gave me some of his old books and stuff from when he first started learning, he told me that some of the greatest alchemists use magic items to help make their potions better."

I nodded. Well that explained where he got the books and guides from. I was worried he had stolen them.

 **"I must be honest. I did not think you would dedicate yourself so heavily. Why did you choose to?"**

Looking up from his book momentarily to check the path ahead, Aventus looked thoughtful before returning his gaze to his book.

"Well at first I didn't think it was very cool. I always used to think that alchemy was just putting stuff in jars, mixing things together or boiling it all. It never seemed all that interesting, but when I talked to Mr Navale he actually made it sound really interesting."

 **"Interesting?"**

Aventus looked excited.

"If you know what you're doing, it seems you can do some really awesome things with alchemy. You can make potions that can both hurt and heal. I'd still like to learn what you do one day, but at least with alchemy I can already start learning to make stuff that will heal, help or protect others."

 **"Just be careful with what you create. You do not want to accidentally poison anybody."**

Aventus just grinned cockily.

"Don't worry. Mr Navale and all of the books I've been reading say that as long as I do the "chef's test" everything should be okay."

 **"Chef's test?"**

"Test taste everything before you serve it."

As I frowned and was about to point out that some poisons were dangerous enough for that to still be leathal, our attention was attracted by the large group of people in the square up ahead.

"Hey, what's going on over there?"

Thanks to my size, I was able to easily see over the crowd and move through it to quickly establish what was going on.

 **"Greetings Erika"**

Looking up at the sound of my voice, Erika was distracted long enough for Delphine's practice sword to strike her in the gut.

"Remember rule number three Erika! Don't allow yourself to be distracted from your opponent!"

Coughing as she picked herself up, Erika glared at Delphine.

"That was a cheap shot."

Delphine just grinned and laughed as she helped Erika to her feet.

"Rule number five. In combat there is no such thing as cheating. Only the gaining of a tactical advantage."

"You and your rules."

I chuckled as I listened to them.

 **"So how are you two. Where is Lydia?"**

Erika rubbed her neck awkwardly as Delphine spoke up.

"Lydia's off retrieving the axe from our room at the tavern.

I raised an eye brow in slight confusion and interest.

 **"I have been meaning to ask where you three have been staying so I can find you more easily. But what is this about an axe?"**

"We've been staying at an inn called the 'Windy Halberd' near the Palace of the Kings. As for the axe..."

Delphine glanced at Erika who looked uncomfortable before speaking up.

"The Stone-Fist clan want me to keep the axe I killed Sahloknir with. It feels kind of weird to keep it though, as it was owned by somebody else and I'm not used to larger weapons."

I raised an eye brow with interest

 **"Your going to attempt to learn how to wield it?"**

"I am. As strange as it feels to use it, it would be unacceptable to refuse to use it after the Stone-fists presented it to me rather than burying it with him. Apparently he owned that axe since the end of the Great War."

Glancing up at the sky thoughtfully, I then spoke.

 **"Hahkun Do Qethsegol Haal. The Axe of Galmar Stone-Fist. A weapon of iron, once from humble origins, baptized in the blood, death and battles of Elf, Man, Beast and Dragon."**

"...what?"

Looking back down at slightly confused Erika and Delphine, I was unsure how to explain my musings, when Aventus finally made his way to the front of the crowd. Having heard me talking to Erica, he had been staring at the two of them looking like he was trying to figure out who they were.

"Who are you two?"

Huh. Guess he didn't know who they were. Strangely, Erika seemed to find this amusing for some reason and had burst out laughing. Even Delphine seemed to be grinning

"Uhhhh what did I say?"

"Erika?"

Standing back up after laughing, Erika smiled and started to explain.

"For some reason almost everyone all over the city now knows my name and what I look like, even though I've never met them before. I haven't been asked my name all morning."

I grinned in return.

 **"Welcome to your first taste of fame Erika. Enjoy it before it eventually loses it's novelty."**

Aventus on the other hand frowned.

"It's not my fault I don't know who you are. I've been busy trying to learn alchemy."

Erika just smiled as she and Delphine introduced herself.

"Erika Red-Leif of Halfnir."

"Delphine of Riverwood. So have you only recently started learning about alchemy?"

Aventus nodded.

"I want to be able to help people. But until I'm old enough to use a sword, this is probably the only way I can."

Delphine scoffed.

"That's just what people say when they don't want to actually teach anything. Even if you're too young to wield a blade or wear armor, you're never to young to start training and conditioning your body in preparation."

She suddenly found herself being bombarded by questions from an intrigued and hopeful Aventus. As I watched and was entertained by the sight of Aventus bugging someone else to teach him, I remembered I had something else to do and turned to Erika.

 **"Well I must be going now Erika. I hope leaving Aventus here with you is not too much trouble, but I have something to take care of that would be easier without him."**

Erika just smiled and continued to watch as a grudging Delphine began to explain a few basic things to Aventus.

"It should be no problem."

 **"Then farewell for now."  
**  
Making my escape to the air, I then cruised over the city, before drifting over to the Grey Qaurter.

I wasn't sure why, but I had begun to notice that Keinvothgeinmaar was spending more and more time in the company of the Dunmer. For the first few nights after the battle, he had usually retreated to sleep atop one of the mountains or hills outside Windhelm, but now he usually perched on the walls surrounding the Grey Qaurter when resting. Finding him sitting a top a section of the city wall, I slowly descended and landed on the wall, placing a polite distance between us.

Looking at him as he slowly turned to face me, I realized that he must have been meditating.

 **"Drem Yol Nok. Greetings servant of Talos. What brings you to me this day."**

I bowed respectfully before him.

 **"Curiosity and knowledge, elder. Though I may have returned you to this realm, I have not actually had the chance to converse with you yet."**

He nodded slowly.

" **Reasons which would bring many dragons to seek me out. However I detect different, more honest motivations from you. But first, let us greet one another in the ancient way, as true dova once did."**

Motioning for him to go first, I felt his powerful yet restrained fire-breath flow over my body. Once he had done so, I returned the favor. For a few moments, there was the sound of shocked and amazed people in the city below us crying out. I then realized it must have looked and sounded rather strange to see two great dragons, sitting atop a wall like giant birds and conversing in a strange language one moment, then seemingly unconcerned as they set each other on fire the next. Adding to the confusion would have been when Keinvothgeinmaar began to laugh.

 **"Forgive me, but it has been so long since I had the chance to peacefully exchange words with a fellow dova. I had almost forgotten this feeling."**

I smiled respectfully.

 **"The pleasure is mine elder. I myself have met few dova that approve of my actions and desires. It is good to meet another who values the lives of mortals."**

Keinvothgeinmaar nodded in agreement.

 **"Indeed. It is a pity so many of our kind are blinded and controlled by their natures. If only they would open their eyes and take in the world around them, rather than grinding it underfoot. But enough of my old words. What is it that brings one as young as you to such power and the need to raise me?"**

I frowned in confusion.

 **"Young? How could you tell?"**

He grinned and laughed in return.

 **"Many things young one. It has been millennia since our number has grown, but I have seen already seen things that show your youth. You have consistently addressed me as "elder" and you have acted more subservient and respectful towards me than older or more powerful dragons. The way you move shows that you are sometimes cautious of your own size and strength compared to the world. Even your instinctive actions are like that of one who does not truly know themself yet."**

I shuffled somewhat in embarrassment.

 **"I did not realize I let it show so much."**

Keinvothgeinmaar just shook his head and continued to smile.

 **"I would have also mentioned the reckless manner in which you fight, but I am not sure if that is your inexperience or your apparent willingness to let yourself be torn to pieces, simply because you can heal yourself so quickly."**

I diverted my gaze awkwardly.

 **"Honestly...I would say it is most likely a combination of both."**

Keinvothgeinmaar looked amused before his expression became thoughtful and serious for a moment.

 **"I have seen your actions and your will to protect the mortals over the past days since you raised me,so for that reason I believe I can trust you. However your age and inexperience, as well as the fact that Alduin would never teach "Slen Tiid Vo", let alone to a dova as young as you, tells me that you are not the mastermind behind my return to the mortal realm."**

I nodded.

 **"Indeed I am not. Your return was made possible by the god Talos, and an old comrade of yours, Paarthurnax."**

A distant and melancholic expression passed over Keinvothgeinmaar's face.

"I must confess, while I have no true knowledge of this god Talos, aside from what I have learned since my return, it is good to hear that Paarthurnax has survived since my passing. How is he? Still whiling his days away on the Monahven?"

I nodded.

 **"He still resides atop the peak. Though he has not left the mountain in hundreds of years, he seems in good health and was satisfied with his place."**

Keinvothgeinmaar frowned.

"Was? I assume his change in satisfaction is what has lead to my return?"

I nodded and sighed.

 **"That is correct. Dark shadows falls on the horizon. Many of them. Alduin has returned."**

Keinvothgeinmaar's eyes widened in shock.

 **"He has returned?! I knew that there must be some reason behind my resurrection aside from someone wanting to converse with old Keinvothgeinmaar again, but this is more serious than I imagined."**

I shook my head and continued.

 **"That is not the worst of it. Alduin poses a great threat to the world, that is true, but he is only the closest danger right now. In fact, he was not even the reason for your resurrection."**

At this Keinvothgeinmaar's eyes narrowed.

 **"If there are greater threats out there than the World Eater, a lot must have happened during my slumber."**

I nodded.

 **"Much has indeed happened. Alduin may end us, that is true, but there is still a chance to defeat him. There is an Elder Scroll prophecy and a Dragon Break at work here. The greater threat is one this world shall face in the future. The nations of Tamriel lie weak and divided. From the Summerset Isle come an organization known as the Thalmor. Their goal is ascension through the very unmaking of Nirn."**

Keinvothgeinmaar reeled back and hissed in shock and anger.

 **"What madness would lead them to believe this?"**

I simply shook my head.

 **"I do not know. What I do know is that just over three decades ago, though only delayed, they were stopped. Now they slowly rebuild their forces and plan for their return and the destruction of the remaining Towers. However, the nations that once would have stopped them now lie either fragmented, defeated, indecisive or torn apart by civil war. I was sent out to seek and raise you as well as two others of your and Paarthurnax's allies of old. It was believed the collective age, wisdom and experience the three of you held, would help end the threats of the dangers Nirn now faces."**

Digesting this, he then looked up.

 **"Who else were you sent to resurrect?"**

 **"Oniklahhadrim in Winterhold and Grahzinah in the human city of Solitude."**

For a number of minutes Keinvothgeinmaar was silent. His eyes closed, he slowly absorbed what I had told him before reaching a decision.

 **"Tell me everything I need to know."**

 **Journal Entry #44 Up to Speed**

 **"And you have managed to survive this far how?"**

I shuffled awkwardly under Keinvothgeinmaar's some what amused and incredulous expression.

 **"Honestly? Healing thu'ums, a lot of luck and a small amount of divine input."**

Keinvothgeinmaar looked like he would have laughed had the situation not been so serious.

 **"So once more an out numbered force of dova are called upon to shape the fates of men, only this time most of us are already dead, our most powerful member and leader is now long past his prime and can not leave the Monahven, and the one with the power to return us to this realm is you."**

I looked away.

 **"That...is an accurate assessment elder."**

Now Keinvothgeinmaar laughed.

 **"I do not mean to deride you and your abilities. To face dova such as Sahloknir at your age, even if you needed aid to defeat him, shows that you have much potential and growth hidden within you."**

I sighed

 **"Even if that is true, in all of my battles I have barely survived. Despite the variety of thu'ums that I am capable of using, I have yet to be definitively more powerful than my opponents."**

The old dragon just shook his head and smiled.

 **"Nay. I have seen you fight, and after hearing of your exploits, I believe you are more powerful than you may think you are. You have consistently fought opponents beyond your skill level and at least managed to survive. What you lack is experience."**

I sighed again.

 **"Considering my youth, and that I have only faced three other dova, I would say that my lack of experience is obvious."**

Keinvothgeinmaar once more shook his head.

 **"Once again you misunderstand me. What you lack is knowledge and experiance of how dova battle one another. Most dova only ever attempt to face those of comparable or lesser power in their youth. As they grow in capabilities, they will then advance to facing other dova they now consider themselves comparable to. Even at the height of the dragon war, it was rare for less powerful dova to attempt to battle their elders. You have not experienced that natural progression in the power of your foes."**

I frowned.

 **"Then what can I do?"**

Taking a moment to pause and think, Keinvothgeinmaar then continued.

 **"Most dragons became more powerful through three methods. Absorption of other souls, increasing their understandings and knowledge of thu'ums or acquiring powers beyond those naturally gifted to us. However all of that could be rendered useless in a single fight, simply because they did not know how to react. The greatest weapon of the eldest and most powerful dova was their experience. They could know their limits and powers as well as predict and feel for those of their opponents."**

I nodded as he continued.

 **"So far you have used the second method. You have an arsenal of thu'ums few but the oldest and most experienced dova could match. Most dova as young as you only have maybe three to five basic shouts they can call upon. However you have little experience for how to face your opponents when their greater power, skills and experiences allow them to evade or shrug off you attacks."**

Well, considering the massive cluster-fuck that was my battle with Sahloknir, that was pretty damn obvious.

 **"I have been thinking for quite a while now that I need more experience fighting other dova, but I have not had many opportunities to and all my battles were against opponents far superior to myself. I've been more concerned with surviving my battles and acting as a meat-shield for my allies, rather than actually attempting to be the one to strike the killing blow**."

Keinvothgeinmaar slowly grinned toothily.

 **"I see now. What you seek from me is more than simple knowledge or power. You seek experience. You wish to either spar with me or learn what I know of the way the dov do battle."**

I shuffled some what awkwardly as he grinned at me. He had seen straight through to what I had been hoping to ask.

 **"Well...yes, that was what I wished to learn from you. Though I was hoping that perhaps you could also help the dovakiin acquire some experience as well?"**

The old dragon contemplated my request silently for almost a minute before replying.

 **"Your request is acceptable. The young dovakiin shows much promise, but like you, there is still much for her to learn and experience before she reaches the level of her predecessors. For that reason I shall spend the next twelve days teaching you."**

I frowned momentarily in confusion at this.

 **"I thank you for your aid with this elder. It would be a great boon for the dovakiin and I, but if I may ask, why only twelve days?"**

Keinvothgeinmaar now sighed.

 **"Because I believe it would be best for me to travel to the Monahven to seek council and with Paathurnax. Your task was also to find Oniklahhadrim and Grahzinah. With Alduin's return, it is of essence that our forces gather and then defeat Alduin before he can raise too many of his followers."**

"But why twelve days? There is not much the dovakiin and I could learn in that time. Why not simply seek out Paarthurnax now if you believe it would be best in this situation?"

He then gestured at the Grey Quarter below us.

 **"Because some of their number will be departing in twelve days."**

I now looked at him with confusion.

 **"You wish to travel with the Dunmer who plan to leave this city? Why? And would it not be better to convince them to remain here? With the rest of the city in ruins or damaged, the Dunmer will be needed to help keep trade within the city afloat."**

He shook his head sadly.

 **"I have heard talk amongst their number about where they wish to travel. The while the vast majority of the Dunmer have chosen to remain here, many of those who choose to leave shall head south before separating, some traveling to the cities of the Rift, but most looking for new lives in Whiterun. I wish to follow and protect them until they separate just northeast of the Monahven."**

 **"But the city's ability to recover-"**

 **"Shall have to suffer without them. Mortals are ridiculous beings at times, and it is for that reason that sometimes they will only recognize something for it's worth once it is gone.**

Nodding, I then contemplated his words before speaking.

 **"What shall you do after meeting with Paarthurnax?"**

The old dragon grinned momentarily.

 **"Forget ourselves as only two comrades reminiscing about days and faces long since past can, most probably. In all seriousness, I would not be against the idea of returning to this city and the lands surrounding it to protect against future dragon attacks. Whether I do or not depends on what Paarthurnax has learned or planned for during the time you have been away."**

Seeing no problem with this, I decided to ask about Erika and I's training.

 **"I see. So about aiding the dovakiin and I. What do you have in mind?"**

The old dragon now laughed and smiled toothily.

 **"In ages past, on the rare occasion dovah fought one another for training and experience rather than for the death of their foe, they would often pull their blows and thu'ums against each other. With the use of your healing thu'um, I believe we will be able to ignore that fact."**

I gulped nervously.

 **"What do you mean?"**

He now grinned almost evilly.

 **"Before I was "War With Oneself" I was known as "Bring Pain End". I expect to meet you and the dovakiin here at the height of the midday sun tomorrow. It has been long since I felt the joy of being a teacher. Once more I shall make students remember why Paarthurnax was considered the 'soft teacher'."**

 **Journal Entry #45 Pain is for the Weak**

"urghhh, I think my bruises have bruises. Haas Sien Gron."

Pausing to tear out a number of ice spears that had pierced the armor of my shoulder, I healed the wound and then looked over at a battered and bedraggled Erika.

 **"Well lucky you. At least he does not bite you too hard, for fear of serious injury."**

Healing a large number of burns on her sword arm, she then shot back with;

"You know, when you asked me if I wished to train and spar alongside you and a dragon who was arguably one of the more powerful human supporters of the Dragon War, I thought we would actually be learning something. Not get beaten six ways from Sundas and reduced to bloody pulps every half an hour."

A bark of laughter from the other end of the mountainside plateau that we were using for training field brought our attention to Keinvothgeinmaar.

 **"Oh, I would say you two are learning something."**

The bastard was fucking indestructible. He was like Beinalbahlok, then taken up a few levels, in the sheer ridiculous amounts of damage he could shrug off and ignore. It was no wonder Sahloknir had enlisted the aid of a Dragon Cult to kill him, and even then, Sahloknir had been left so badly wounded after the battle, he was almost immediately finished off by the ancient Nord hero, Jorg Helmbolg. Even now with half of his face and wings mauled and burned off, he was happily sitting by unconcerned as he waited for Erika and I to heal ourselves.

"And what exactly have we been learning?"

The old dragon just grinned.

 **"Survival. Now do hurry up. There are only so many hours in a day and I am finally beginning to beat you two into challenging foes."**

Erika and I just sighed in unison and finished healing ourselves and Keinvothgeinmaar, before returning to our positions at either end of the training field. From the side lines, Lydia began her count down and prepared to dive into the bunker of stone that had been built for her protection.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One! FIGHT!"

In a variation of what had been happening for the past eleven days, Keinvothgeinmarr easily took us apart and whether our efforts to bring him down. The rules were pretty simple. Nothing leathal, no Dragonrend and the round was declared over whenever something was scored on us that Keinvothgeinmaar declared would leave us dead at full power or exposed for a finishing blow in a real battle. Just over fourteen and a half minutes later, Erika was pinned and frozen up to her neck by ice to the side of a rock, and I found myself upside down and compacted into the side of a cliff face with my spine crushed in three places.

 **"...ouch..."**

Make that four places. In the center of the field, a once more bloody and ravaged Keinvothgeinmaar inspected a mostly destroyed wing with disinterest, before turning to us.

 **"You lack discipline! Both of you! I have told you two so many times now, your greatest strength is your ability to fight together. However you rely too much on the other's strengths, rather than covering each others weaknesses. And the instant any plan you two come up with fails, your teamwork falls dramatically."**

Ignoring us as Lydia exited her bunker and began to help Erika break her way out of the ice, and my unceremonious fall to the ground from the cliff face as it crumbled and released me, he continued on his spiel.

 **"Two of the most infamous dova of the Dragon War were the twin souls, Naaslaarum and Voslaarum. They specialized in ambush and rapid strike and retreat tactics. Such was their teamwork, that many powerful dova fell to those two, even before they grew in strength through the number of souls they consumed."**

With a number of painful clicks and grinding crunches, my spinal column slowly fused back together and regenerated, allowing me to realize both my legs were also broken. As Erika finally broke her way out of the ice, Lydia pulled out a book and hourglass she had been using to note how long we survived each spar.

"You actually managed to break the fourteen minutes, thirty six seconds mark this time."

 **"By how much?"** *crunch* **"ow..."**

"Fourteen minutes, forty five seconds."

Everybody then winced at the sight and sound of Keinvothgeinmaar pushing his own dislocated shoulder back into place without showing any sign of concern or pain.

 **"Good, good, every little step is merely part of a greater journey towards your final goal. Now finish healing yourselves so that we may continue."**

Flinching at the promise of pain yet to come, Erika and I complied.

While Keinvothgeinmaar's "training" was certainly harsh, he knew what he was doing. Regularly switching through his immense plethora of tactics and "styles" he had seen, fought against and used in his long life, his goal was not to coddle us, but let us know exactly what we could potentially expect to face from other dragons. His other main goal was to "beat" some sense of teamwork into the two of us and help us find the way we were most effective in battle.

According to Keinvothgeinmaar, dragons of Sahloknir's level were thankfully rather rare. Most of the truly powerful members of Alduin's forces were his commanders and personal lackies. The majority of his forces ranged in power from just above Beinalbahlok to Lokjotrahgol's level. Thus he had decided that while he would pull some of his more powerful punches, if our enemies were going to grind us through the dirt at our current level, we would learn to fight in a way that would allow us to fight back us were were grinded through the dirt.

With my ability to not just take massive damage, but then heal from near fatal levels of it, Keinvothgeinmaar had decided I was best suited to being the dragon equivalent of an intelligent and still capable berserker. I was to improve my agility, strength, reaction time and fighting skills at close range, as well as learn to heal faster and more easily on the fly. Basically, I was to get hit less, hit my foe more and heal from whenever I did get hit. I'm pretty sure that, while he knew it would be impossible for me to become capable of it in less than twelve days, his hope was that one day in the future I would be able to instantly and subconsciously heal from damn near everything while in combat.

Erika on the other hand, looked set to become the Skyrim equivalent of the "Yellow Flash". When not in combat, Keinvothgeinmaar had instructed her to meditate as much as possible on what she may have gained from absorbing Sahloknir's soul. Even if Erika did not gain the entirety of his understandings for his Slow Time/Whirlwind Sprint combination, Keinvothgeinmaar had known and been rivals with Sahloknir even before the Dragon War, so while he could not use the combination with the fluidity and seamlessness Sahloknir had mastered them with, he had suspicions and ideas for the possible understandings behind them that Sahloknir might have used.

He also revealed that it had been a long aimed for, though never achieved, goal of Sahloknir's to one day master Elemental Fury and add it to his already fearsome combination. Aside from the training to help her one day unlock the secrets behind Sahloknir's greatest ability, Keinvothgeinmaar's final goals for Erika were to increase her speed, ability to dodge, thu'um rate and endurance. As painful, horrible and tiring as the last eleven days had been, I had to admit he had actually succeeded in getting progress out of us and at the very least, set the two of us on the course to further improving ourselves.

As we finally finished healing ourselves, Delphine jogged into view from a path that lead back down the mountain. Although she was missing something...

"So how goes the training?"

Erika groaned as she stood up.

"Same as it always does. Painfully. Where's Aventus?"

Ah yes, that's what was missing. While Erika and I had been under going the training regime from hell thanks to Keinvothgeinmaar, Aventus had cast himself into his own little world of hurt.

"Huh. He was right behind me just a minute ago. Oh, there he is."

Practically dead on his feet and looking even more dog tired than Erika or I, Aventus shambled up the path and then over to us before tipping forwards and face-planting in a snowdrift.

 **"Is he okay?"**

Delphine just laughed.

"He's fine. I must admit, I can see what you said about him growing on you. I'm amazed he hasn't given up yet."

Over the past few days, Aventus had continuously bugged and tried to learn as much as he could about "building himself up" from Delphine. In the end, Delphine had decided to give him exactly what he had wanted. She offered to train him.

Aventus then mumbled something into the snow.

"Yes, the weights are important. Most militaries and city guard uniforms weigh five times as much and run six times as far for their standard entrance tests."

As part of her attempt to "train" Aventus into giving up on following her, Delphine had quickly sewn together from some leather, straps and small pieces of iron, a much lighter fake imitation of leather armor that was supposed to function as down sized suit of it and weights. Her plan back fired completely.

Replacing his shoes that had already been near the ends of their lives with the boots and shin guards, he wore the leather breast plate and shoulder pieces over his hooded robe, the greaves over his sleeves, and used his pouch-belt to tie the leather skirt around his waist over the lower part of the robe. Hilariously, he now looked like some sort of warrior priest. Aventus loved it. At least until the training started.

 **"You are a cruel and sadistic woman Delphine."**

The blade just laughed in response to my comment.

"Well he did ask me to train him. He should be thankful I decided to start him off with something most legionnaire cadets his age do. This was the easy lesson."

On the ground, Aventus mumbled something along the lines of "easy my butt" into the snow.

 **"I am rather certain the cadets worked their way to this level slowly."**

From the other side, Erika raised an eye brow questioningly.

"Says the dragon whose idea of a training program was to let another dragon beat twelve kinds of stuffing out of us for a week and a half."

I glared at her in return.

In response, she poked her tongue out at me.

Before I could reply with a retort, Delphine then pulled a note out of her pocket and then took everybody by surprise with what she had to say.

"We've been invited to a party."

"Wait, what?"

 **"By who?"**

"When?"

Completely unfolding the note, she passed it to Erika and Lydia.

"Someone apparently found out that we were planning on leaving at the same time as the Dunmer and that Keinvothgeinmaar would also be leaving, so someone decided to try and throw a farewell party for everybody who is leaving."

I raised an eye brow.

 **"That will not go down with some of the Dunmer. Even if it is an actual attempt to give everyone a final send off, no doubt some of them, and the Nords as well, will think that some people are just celebrating the fact that they are leaving."**

Erika just shrugged.

"Well, whatever happens afterwards, we won't be here to know about it. The invitation says the party is tomorrow night in the courtyard in front of the Palace of the Kings."

Lydia frowned at that.

"Great. That means drinking is probably out for me. I don't want to end up both hungover and motion sick."

I snorted at that.

 **"If you throw up on me again, we will be walking to Winterhold. It takes an eternity to clean everything out of all the gaps in my scales and armor back there."**

Erika laughed at Lydia's outraged expression.

"I've apologized so many times for those accidents! I was the one who cleaned it up! I haven't thrown up on you in weeks! What will it take for you to drop it?!"

I smiled.

 **"Do not worry Lydia. I'll stop holding it over you eventually. If only because you end up giving me something far more entertaining to use."  
**  
Ignoring Lydia's rage and the laughter of Erika and I, Delphine motioned for us to lean down.

"What is it?"

Glancing over at Aventus, who had now rolled over and was attempting to get to his feet, she then turned back and whispered to us.

"We have to decide what to do with Aventus."

Lydia and Erika looked confused, but I understood.

"What do we have to do with Aventus?"

"What Delphine is asking is whether we should leave him here, or bring him with us."

Everyone was silent at that. After a few moments Erika spoke first.

"I like the kid. He's grown on us, but I don't think it is a good idea to bring him."

Delphine nodded sadly.

"As much as I like him, we can't afford to drag him across half of Skyrim and be forced to protect him whenever we inevitably end up in danger."

A concerned expression crossed Lydia's face.

"It doesn't feel right. I know we can't bring him, but he's totally latched himself onto us. We can't abandon him."

I nodded morosely in agreement.

 **"Where we are to go is no place for a child of Aventus' age. I fear we have let him become too attached to us."**

Delphine shook her head.

"If anything, we became attached to him."

Lydia stared off at Windhelm, barely visible in the distance.

"What about those two priests at the temple?"

 **"They will most likely be able to take care of him, but it is Aventus' mental state I worry about when we do not let him follow us."**

Erika raised an eye brow.

"What do you mean?"

I sighed.

 **"Everyone he has ever latched onto for comfort and guidance has either mistreated him, or left him. We are probably the first people in a long time to treat him even somewhat kindly. Maybe he will recover in time, but leaving him behind will hurt him greatly."**

"But we can't take him with us."

We all nodded and were silent for a few moments, before Lydia glanced back to Aventus who was now sitting on a rock reading, having pulled one of his books on alchemy out of his satchel while he waited for the strength to get up and stretch return to his legs.

"Who should tell him?"

Silence fell upon us again.

 **"If you two have finished talking, I would like to have my wing healed now please. Daylight is burning and that is daylight that could be spent training! The beatings will continue until education ensues!"**

 **Journal Entry #46 The Celebrations and Self-Examinations**

"Has anybody seen Aventus today?"

Standing together in the festive courtyard outside the Palace of the Kings, everyone looked up at Erika's question.

 **"He came back to the Temple with me last night, but he disappeared some time this morning. I was busy doing some repairs to the building so it would be in manageable condition once we leave. I simply assumed he left because of the noise from all the stone I was manipulating and went to look for you three."**

Delphine shook her head.

"I didn't see him at all today. I assumed he must have been busy at the temple."

Lydia frowned as well.

"He helped me go shopping for supplies earlier, but I haven't seen him since midday. He said he had things to take care of, so I assumed he was going to get ready for the party."

Erika then grimaced.

"Great, so none of us had the chance to explain that we couldn't take him. Tomorrow is going to be a fun farewell."

I sighed and shrugged.

 **"Well then we can at least explain things to him when we say our good byes tomorrow morning."  
**  
I looked out over the crowds of celebrating people.

 **"Moping about now won't solve anything. This is a send off for us so let us enjoy ourselves. Maybe we will get lucky and find Aventus in the crowd."**

Delphine nodded before smiling and snatching a drink off of the platter of a passing waiter.

"In that case, I'm going to go search for Aventus over by the bar."

As she drifted off into the crowd, Lydia looked like she was contemplating joining her, only to be interrupted by a grinning Erika.

"Be careful Lydia. You don't want to end up cleaning sick off of dragon hide again."

"Damnit, you two! Fine then, if you want to find me later, I'll probably be over at the buffet. It looked like they were just about to pull the hog off the spit when we arrived."

Ignoring our laughter as she left, I then turned to Erika.

 **"So. What are your plans for this evening?"**

She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.

"I'll admit, I'm not to sure what to do first. I think I'd like to go look at some of the stuff that's sale right now. There was some pretty interesting looking gear going cheap over there."

Glancing over in the direction I had seen her eyeing up earlier, I raised an eyebrow.

 **"I did not know that it was legal to sell young men that would appear attractive to the female eye at these kinds of events. Expressing interest in the stock are we?"**

She blushed a shade of red that could give tomatoes a run for their money.

"Shut up."

I just grinned and continued.

 **"Remember Erika, keep it safe. But if things do happen, I am perfectly capable of performing marriage ceremonies."**

Erika the proceeded to clap her hands over her ears.

"La la la, I'm absolutely not hearing this from the divine messenger of a god, La la."

I bowed down jokingly.

 **"Why it would be an honor for the child to be named after myself."**

Laughing at the sight of a now thoroughly embarrassed looking Erika wandering off into the crowd, I then turned my attention to deciding what I wanted to do. I quickly realized that thanks to my size, there wasn't really much do me to do at all, other than just watch everyone from the top of the stairs.

And so for the next two and a half hours, I amused myself by watching a large number of people get drunk, sing, dance and have fun. From time to time, I would catch sight of Erika, Lydia and Delphine at one of the various stalls, sales and tables around the outer edge of the courtyard and every so often, they would check in and see what I was up to and usually give me something they had brought, to look after.

Delphine ended up winning a bunch of prizes from a dart throwing completion, as well as beating a bunch of big burly Stormcloaks at arm-wrestling and was now cleaning them out at a Skyrim equivalent of poker, while Lydia had been mingling amongst the various groups in the crowd and was now taking part in a wood chopping race. In an ironic twist, Erika's attempts to find a dancing partner had rather unsuccessful, but not for the expected reason.

Almost all of the guys her age were intimidated by her. She wasn't trying to be intimidating, but the fact was, as far as they knew, she beat and hacked dragons to death every few months, and her idea of training was to re-arrange the landscape a-la-dragon spar. Eventually she had given up and started window shopping. Now she was wandering her way thorough a bunch of stalls selling weapons and amor.

With nothing much for me to do, I ended up spending most of my time listening to the musicians and bards that had set up their instruments and were performing nearby. Thankfully their range of songs was greater than that of the game, and with more instruments, they were actually playing music you could sing and dance to. At least if you already knew how the music went. They seemed to be playing a number of popular requests, but I had no idea what most of the songs were. Every now and again, someone from the crowd would also take the stage and sing, almost like some sort of medieval form of karaoke.

Suddenly my attention was caught by the sight of a scuffle within the crowed. Turning my attention to it, I realized that a small group of Nords and Dunmer were having a stand off.

Fists were being shaken, insults were hurled and things looked ready to devolve into a full on fight at any second. A number of people from the sidelines stepped in and looked like they were unsuccessfully attempting to break things up. For a moment it seemed as if a conflict was inevitable when one of the Nords attempted to push past the person holding him back and almost managed to sock one of the Dunmer in the face. I was prepared to raise my voice and attempt to break things up, but the timely arrival of some guards brought an end to any possibility of a fight before I was needed.

"What makes a person a true son or daughter of Skyrim?"

Looking down in surprise, I suddenly realized that Ulfric Stormcloak was standing next to me and quietly speaking.

 **"What? What do you mean?"**

He looked like he hadn't been sleeping that well. Hmmm, maybe reading him the riot act all at once, wasn't such a good idea in hindsight.

"I find myself pondering that question lately. I used to think it was where you came from. To have not just been born here, but to have had your ancestors live and bleed on earth of Skyrim. To have seen their bones interred within the earth and share tales of people and times past."

 **"But then?"**

He grimaced and clenched his fists.

"I've been thinking a lot lately on what you said. Not just about the war, but why I started it. Why I fight. I remembered back to when we were recruiting a few months back."

I nodded for him to continue as he sighed.

"There was this elf...a bosmer standing amongst the new-bloods. At the time everyone just laughed at the idea of an elf fighting against the the Empire and the Thalmor, but then Galmar asked him 'why would an elf want to fight for the Stormcloaks?'."

 **"What did he say?"**

"He simply smiled, looked Galmar straight in the eyes and said Skyrim was as much his home as anybody else's."

He looked off into the crowds that had now returned to their festive and joyous mood with the potential fight having been broken up and it's instigators dispersed.

"I didn't actually think about what he said until I saw him a few days ago. Despite the fact that he should have been on leave, everyday he would go out, hunt and bring back anything he could find to help feed those made homeless in the battle. I asked him 'why do you do this?'. 'Why fight and labour for people and a land who are not your own and would not do the same for you?'. Do you know what he said?"

 **"No."**

Ulfric once more turned his gaze to the crowds.

"He said these were his people. That his soul was one that could only be grown under the skies of Skyrim. He told me that the mountains of Skyrim, not the forests of Valenwood were his home. That his people were the ones he grew up beside and loved, not strangers who shared his racial features. He said his family had lived here in Eastmarch since before the time of Talos and the Third Era."

I looked thoughtfully to the sky.

 **"A true child of Skyrim"**

"Yes. Blood does not truly mark you as one of Skyrim's own, I've always known this. But nor does place of birth or family decent. What is it that really makes a person a child of the north?"

Silence fell between us, filled by the sounds of the celebrations below us.

 **"A state of mind.?"**

Ulfric looked at me in confusion.

 **"State of soul?"**

"What do you mean?"

I shrugged.

 **"Men have spent eons considering such questions and their multitudes of answers. What makes us belong? What defines us? What makes us who and what we are? Is it our race? Our religion? Where we were born? How we choose to live our lives? To label a person one way, is to incorrectly do so in a thousand others. Entire wars have been waged over such conflicts and beliefs."**

"I'm not really following or understanding you."

 **"Can we ever truly understand anything? We sometimes have trouble understanding ourselves. At the end of the day, the only person capable of deciding what makes a person a son or daughter of Skyrim, is that person them self."**

Once more, the space between us was filled with only the sounds of those below us. It was a number of minutes before Ulfric decided to speak again.

"Now more than ever, I feel unsure of the way. Ever since the Great War...since it happened, I've felt like my life has been one long string of choices where there is no right answer. Even when something first looks like it will go right, I am always left choosing between varying degrees of worse."

His next words were only barely hearable.

"Is...is this punishment for what I did. Should I have been stronger?"

I frowned at this, but had a pretty good idea what he was talking about.

 **"You are many things Ulfric Stormcloak, but you are not weak."**

He looked at me in surprise that I had managed to pick up his words.

 **"For all your faults, you are a great and inspirational leader. You can bring loyalty and courage to those around you when you try. You have many victories and battles to your name. You have an inner strength and power which reaches outwards towards others.**

You are a man of conflict Ulfric. You bring it to your foes and you face it within yourself. I assume this is why you left High Hrothgar and instead turned your thu'um to war. You are not a man of peace Ulfric. But nor are you truly a man of war. To find your path, you must first find balance. search for "Ro", the balance within yourself. Once you find it, only then will you find your balance in the world around you."

At this he looked contemplative.

"I have not actually tried meditating in years. I never had the time and fell out of habit during the war."

I nodded.

 **"Then now might be a good time to regain it."**

I then turned my attention back to the band and their music. I actually recognized the previous song as "The Dragonborn Comes". Then I saw a blushing Erika being dragged to the stage by Delphine and Lydia, as the crowd cheered her on to perform "her" song.

"Thank you."

Switching my gaze back to Ulfric, I saw he looked ready to turn away and retreat back to the Palace of Kings for the night.

"I realize now that sometimes guidance isn't about telling someone what to do, or holding their hand through it. In this, life can be like a thu'um. You need the "understandings", but sometimes you can not simply be told them. You have to find them yourself."

I smiled.

 **"Peace upon you Ulfric Stormcloak. May Talos light your way."**

Letting him walk away for a few moments, I spoke up just as he opened the doors of the Palace of the Kings.

" **Just so you know. You never told them anything valuable. By the time you told them what they wanted to know, the information was already out of date or no longer vital. In the end, you held out long enough."**

He paused for a moment before entering and then closing the great doors behind him. Watching the entrance for a few more seconds, I eventually returned my attention to the music.

Turning around, I saw a now thoroughly embarrassed Erika leaving the stage and headed my way, having finished singing.

"Divines, I hate singing in front of crowds. I feel weird and get words wrong when lots of people are watching me."

I grinned.

 **"You did not seem to bad from here."**

"Thanks"

 **"Then again, I am a dovah. I do not really know much about your kind of music, so it would be best not to take my word on this sort of thing."**

She frowned.

"Sometimes I wonder why I don't just eat your soul."

I pretended to scratch my chin and look thoughtful.

 **"Most likely because without me, you would have to walk everywhere and get run out of all the towns you pass through because of your singing."**

Now she pouted.

"Why don't you sing something then?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"You said you don't know much about our kind of music. That means you know at least some kinds of music."

" **Well, that is true, but I'm not really the singing type."**

She grinned.

"Neither am I."

 **"The sound of my voice is comparable to a rock-slide"**

"Have you heard some of the people who have been singing lately."

 **"Yes."**

"Then sing!"

 **"No."**

A devilish smile slowly crossed her face.

"Bwak bwak bwak bwaaak."

It took me a second to realize what she was inferring.

 **"What? No!"**

"Bwak bwaaak, what's the matter, did Talos chose a giant plucked chicken instead of a real dragon? Bwak bwak bwak."

 **"No, I just don't know many songs that these people would have heard or understand."**

"Bwak bwak bwak."

 **"Would you stop that. People will start thinking your the Chickenborn if you keep it up."**

"Bwaaak bwak bwak bwak!"

 **"Fine! I'll sing something!"**

Flaring my wings and hovering, I drifted across the courtyard and then landed on the stage before turning to the band leader while clearing my throat.

 **"Do you know of the song "Dovakiin?"**

The poor guy looked terrified for a few moments before nodding.

"We know of it's modern counter-part and translation "Dragonborn", but though the music remains the same, there are few who still know the original lyrics."

 **"Can you play it?"**

"Ye-Yes!"

 **"Then please do so."**

Turning to face the curious crowd, I raised my voice as the musicians rapidly flicked through sheets of music.

 **"I shall now sing for you all a song. One which has long been lost, unsung in it's original form, for many ages. Most of you may know it as "Dragonborn". In the tongue of my kind and in it's original form, we knew it as "Dovakiin"."**

The crowd quietened as I breathed in deeply and the band started up.

In the background, the drummers had slowly started to beat their drums.

Then the chants.

The horns.

The raised voices.

I spoke.

 **"Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin,  
Naal ok zin los vahriin,  
Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal,  
Ahrk fin norok paal graan,  
Fod nust hon zindro zaan,  
Dovahkiin Fah hin kogaan mu draal! -**

 **Journal Entry #47 Stowaways and Lights.**

As we flew over the hills north of Windhelm and followed the coastal road towards Winterhold, Erika gave voice to the thought that was on all of our minds.

"I wonder why Aventus didn't come to say good bye?"

Despite our best efforts, the morning after the party it had been impossible to track down Aventus. We had originally expected him to show up before we left but there had been no sign of him. After getting somewhat worried at the fact that no-one had seen him since last night, we delayed our departure a couple of hours to search for him. Eventually though, we had to give up and decided to leave.

Keinvothgeinmaar and the Dunmer had left roughly around the same time we finally did. Our current estimation was that it would probably take him just over two months to reach Paarthurnax. By dragon-flight, it had taken Team Dragonborn (us) around a four weeks to go from the Throat of the World to Windhelm at full speed, but slowed down by the caravans of migrating Dunmer which he was protecting, It would drastically reduce Keinvothgeinmaar's travel speed until they parted ways northwest the Throat of the World.

For hours we had flown north, liberal uses of Clear Skies helping us navigate and fly straight through clouds and pick out landmarks. Now the sun was falling below the horizon and the Autumn chill was beginning to permeate the high altitude air. With the fact that we not only had to head to Winterhold, but then Solitude as well, we had definitely picked the wrong time of year to head north. After Erika yawned and shivered one to many times, I came to a decision.

 **"Right, it's getting too cold for you three and it will be too dark to pick out landmarks soon. I vote we set up camp for the night in those woods up ahead."**

"Agreed."

"I'm fine with that."

"Oh thank the divines."

Ten minutes later, protected by the trees from any winds that may blast down from the icy north, we had begun to make camp. As Delphine and Erika set up the tent and made a fire, Lydia untied and searched through the various packs of supplies on my back.

"Say, which of these was the cooking gear stored in?"

From within the newly propped up tent, Delphine's voice could be heard.

"The brown leather pack. The one that's covered in pockets and is longer than it is tall."

"We've got two of them up here."

"The other must have been brought by one of you two before we left. We only had one on our journey to Windhelm."

Lydia shrugged and glanced to Erika.

"I didn't buy this thing."

Where she was kneeling by the new started fire, Erika looked at us with confusion as she continued to feed wood into the recently ignited flames.

"I didn't buy it either, I thought it was one of you two's. It was just sitting amongst all of our gear this morning."

I frowned and then laughed.

 **"I hope we didn't accidentally make off with someone else's belongings."**

Suddenly Lydia let out a startled shout, followed by a familiar yelp. As I turned around, I saw Lydia climb off of my back, holding a sheepish looking Aventus in his priest robes and "armor", by his collar. For a few moments, a shocked and awkward silence fell over everybody.

"...so is now a bad time to ask if I can come along?"

Delphine was the first to come back to her senses.

"What in Oblivion are you doing her Aventus?! What were you doing in that pack?!"

An expression passed over Aventus' face. He looked like the kid who'd been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, only the cookie jar was locked away in some ridiculously hard to reach place and he was sort of proud that he had managed to get as far as he did.

"I knew you guys were planning to leave me behind, so I decided to make sure you didn't. And it worked! Now you have to let me come with you all."

I frowned down at him, impressing how serious this was.

 **"We did not wish to leave you behind. We planned to out of necessity. It is to dangerous for us to let you follow on our journey."**

An ugly expression crossed his face.

"Yeah? Well I don't care where you are going, I'm still going to come with you!"

Erika shook her head and knelt down in front of him.

"Look, Aventus. You can't come with us. We're going to be reviling across most of Skyrim, fighting dragons and all kinds horrible things. We can't afford to be constantly looking over our shoulders and protecting you all the time."

"No!"

Pushing away from her, he stood in front of us determined and fists clenched.

"I'm coming with you! I'm not going to be left behind again!"

The four of us looked glanced at each other as Aventus continued to glare furiously.

 **"Aventus..."**

"No!"

"But it's-"

"No!"

"You-"

"No! No! No!"

He now looked at us desperately.

"Please. You can't leave me behind. I don't to be alone again."

I sighed heavily.

 **"Know that where we must go, will take us to face dangers few rarely see. What awaits us is a massive task which will require all of our strengths and abilities."**

He looked like I had just thrown him a lifeline from the pool he was drowning in.

"I'll help, I promise. I managed to escape Honorhall and hitch hike all the way from Riften to Windhelm. I can cook and hunt. I'll do anything, as long as I can stay!"

Delphine grimaced before adding her own warning.

"This isn't like the stories of the heroes of old. This won't just be healing people and traveling from place to place."

Erika slowly walked forwards once more before placing a hand on his shoulder.

"We could die Aventus. We will probably see other people die. We will probably be responsible for some of those deaths."

He just shook his head tearfully.

"I don't want to be left behind."

Sighing tiredly, I glanced upwards at the brightening night sky.

Wait, what?

"Are you sure Aventus? This-"

 **"Uhhh, you all might want to take a look at this."**

Even as the night sky continued to brighten and gain a slight green tint, Lydia spoke up, confusion evident in her voice.

"This...isn't the Aurora Borealis."

"It's coming from the north."

I glanced at Delphine

 **"What do you mean?"**

"Whatever it is, it's coming from somewhere on the ground to the north and not from the sky."

She was right. The light was not directly shinning downwards like sunlight, but upwards like the glow from a light. By now it almost resembled the yellow haze effect that was created by light pollution from a big city, only greenish and dozens of times brighter.

 **"I have a bad feeling about this."**

Suddenly the sky flared, lighting up like someone had set off a giant green flash bang on the other side of the horizon. I was thankful were we far away from where ever the hell that thing coming from (and I had a good idea where) as even at this distance and protected by the shadow of the mountain ranges, we were forced to look away from the light being emitted into the sky. Slowly, the light then began to die until after a minute, the sky had returned back to it's normal starry appearance.

A hushed silence fell on us, only broken over a minute later only by Erika.

"What in the names of the Divines was that?!"

An pale faced Delphine, quickly pulled out her map and looked at it, before confirming my fears.

"Winterhold. It wasn't quite directly north of here. Just a little bit off to the left. I'll bet you anything that came from Winterhold."

Lydia swore loudly.

"If that was another collapse..."

I looked to the horizon gravely.

 **"I fear that what may have happened could potentially have been worse than a collapse. But as we are still here and living, I am hoping that whatever happened was stopped or contained, at least for now."**

I turned to Delphine.

 **"How far are we from Winterhold?"**

She grimaced and shook her head.

"Even if we traveled as fast as possible, we're still at least a month away. Maybe just under if we were to travel night and day."

Lydia looked worried.

"What can we do?"

Erika sighed.

"What we always end up doing. Travel as fast as we can. Hope and pray there's something still there when we finally arrive. Try not to die once we get there."

 **"That is if there is still anything going on once we arrive."**

Delphine hmm'd thoughtfully and Lydia bit her lip worriedly.

"Aventus?"

Glancing around, I saw Erika once more crouching in front of a slightly fearful Aventus.

"Are you sure you still want to come with us? Are you really sure?"

For a moment he looked ready to back out, before a look of fear of something greater flashed across his face momentarily, almost instantly being replaced by determination.

"The divines help those who help themselves. I never want to be left alone again."

He then stared off into the sky, in the direction the light had come from.

"I'm staying with you, even if you're headed into the depths of Oblivion."

 **Bonus Omake**

Scene is a slow pan along Alduin's Wall in Sky Haven Temple.

 **"Long ago, in the land of Skyrim,  
I, Alduin the first-born of Akatosh, unleashed an unspeakable evil.  
But a foolish trio of warriors, wielding an Elder Scroll, stepped forth to oppose me.  
Before the final blow was struck, they tore open a portal in time and flung me into the future, where their race is free.  
Now the Dovakiin has returned and seeks to end the evil that is Alduin."**

 **Journal Entry #48 Shot Down**

With the chilly night air and the infamous North winds rolling down from the Sea of Ghosts, we had no choice but to wait out the night unless we wanted to get Winterhold with the humans of the group frozen and hypothermic. At the break of dawn, we immediately packed up camp and set off directly for Winterhold.

Our original plan had been to follow the coast north at a leisurely pace and train along the way, but now, stopping only for bathroom breaks and to get our bearings, we blitzed over the mountains at high speed on a direct course to Winterhold. If Delphine's map was right, we should finally clear the mountains south of Winterhold and be able to see the place in the distance. The current plan was that unless the situation was urgent enough to require us to immediately enter the town or College, I would hang around the outskirts while the others went in, and stay outside town until I was recognized as safe enough to be trusted.

From my back, Erika spoke up.

"I know that the Mages College is supposed to be in Winterhold, but you never actually hear anything else about the place."

 **"Most likely because there is not really anything else to mention."**

"I've heard that a lot of the city fell off into the sea in the great collapse, but didn't it used to rival Solitude for the capital of Skyrim? It's one of the oldest cities in Skyrim. Surely there would have been something that attracted people to the location in the first place and would have helped it to rebuild."

Delphine added her input at this point.

"Sadly they lost most of that attraction in the collapse. The main reason the place was originally settled was because before the Collapse, the city sat on a hilly isthmus connecting the mainland to a series of larger hills and mountains out to sea, that would have previously run east to west north of the College. This created two large, protected harbors on either side of the isthmus and a barrier from the north winds and storms. In the Great Collapse, practically all of the isthmus and mountains, as well as the city on top of them, fell into the bays leaving them cut off and inaccessible thanks to the cliffs, as well as too shallow and filled with treacherous currents and rocks".

 **"I'm detecting that there's more to this than geographic rearrangement."**

"You're right about that. Many took advantage of Winterhold's misfortune. While I doubt the city could ever have recovered completely, many businesses moved away from, or snapped up the demand for things Winterhold relied upon for income. Much of the fishing industry moved to smaller towns along the coast, the shipping and transport hubs of Skyrim became Solitude and Windhelm, even the whaling and fur trades were snatched up by other places."

I could practically hear the confused frown coming through Erika's voice.

"Why would they do that? Taking all those jobs away wouldn't help the city recover."

I snorted and took the opportunity to glide while I replied.

 **"Sometimes people are uncaring like that. They took advantage of Winterhold's misfortune in order to make their own fortunes. The curse of the coin."**

"So the city never recovered?"

I attempted to shrug as best I could while attempting to glide.

 **"I have never physically been there myself, but by all descriptions, it is little more than a dying town these days."**

Delphine affirmed my words.

"What's left is practically a ghost town built on the cliff tops south of the College. The College as well, has been struggling in recent years. Even if they weren't actually responsible for the Collapse, their name and reputation was dragged through the dirt. Even today, the popular opinion is that the mages had something to do with it, no matter how indirect."

 **"And now this great light. I fear whatever it was bodes ill for the College."**

Erika added her agreement.

"I highly doubt that something that bright was benign or harmless."

Delphine sighed and from the sounds of things, examined her map.

"We'll just have to see what's happened when we arrive."

Further back from them I heard Aventus shout up "Are we there yet?"

I groaned at the phrase everybody instinctively hates on a long journey.

 **"We'll get there when we get there! Delphine, how much further?"**

The confusion was apparent in her voice.

"I'm actually not sure why we haven't seen Winterhold yet. Our course should have brought us over the cliffs just west of the town already."

I frowned and angled my wings in order to clear an up coming ridge line.

 **"I've been flying against the wind this whole time. Maybe we've been blown off cours-HOLY SHIT!"**

As I cleared the ridge line, Winterhold finally came into veiw.

"What in Oblivion happened to the College?!"

What in Oblivion indeed. The college looked like someone had detonated a suitcase-nuke on top of the place. The only main structures left were the ravaged and barely standing remains of west side of the Hall of Attainment and the shattered stump of the Hall of Countenance. The rest of the College was now either blown to smithereens, scorched black or replaced with a large glowing green crater that was roughly centered on where the Hall of Elements and Arcaneum should have been.

From the looks of things, when whatever in the Hall of Elements went boom, it took out practically all of the College and sent debris flying every where. There were chunks of stone visible on the cliffs and amongst the town that had obviously been ejected away from the college in the explosion which had also taken out the bridge that linked the two. From the looks of things, the shockwave had also blown out many of the towns windows.

Thankfully, it seemed like most of the wreckage and stone that hit the town came down in abandoned areas. On closer inspection, there also seemed to be scorch marks on a lot of the buildings through out the town, most likely from the magical anomalies that would have appeared when Ancano started screwing around with the Eye of Magnus.

 **"This...is not good."**

Erika spoke up worriedly.

"Do you think anybody survived?"

 **"From the College? I'm not sure. The town is still intact at least. Mostly."**

"I'd say the reputation for mages and magic throughout Skyrim just took a big hit."

Delphine laughed mirthlessly.

"Oh that's an understatement. Look at this place. It's a giant, glowing green, smoking crater. As if this town didn't hate mages enough."

 **"I'm not seeing any movement around the College. Either the mages all perished or they managed to get ou-** "

Suddenly Lydia who was riding farthest back screamed.

"LOOK OUT!"

On instinct, I dived and banked right, by sheer luck, narrowly avoiding a pair of massive fire balls.

 **"Where the hell did that come from!"**

Well... At least some of the mages survived.

"It came from the town!"

"What was that!"

Glancing down, I saw a number of robed figures standing in the middle of the street and more rushing out of a building join them, various colored auras springing into their hands as they did so.

 **"Everyone check your tied in properly, this is gonna get bumpy! Wuld Spaan Dwiin!"**

Diving down once more before banking right, then left before rapidly making a hard right once more, I was soon performing a roller coaster ride through the skies as a hail of fire balls, ice spikes and electrical attacks were thrown at me. Most of them missed, but every now and again something would impact against a hastily summoned swirling shield of wind.

"They're shooting at us!"

 **"Thank you Blademaster Obvious, I can see that quite well!"**

Everyone then screamed and held onto the ropes that tied them to my back as I first barrel rolled and was then forced to loop-de-loop to avoid a god damn Lightning Storm beam. In game that attack was strong enough to absolutely wreck ancient dragons. I had no intention of being hit by that thing. Turing hard, I aimed for the cliffs.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

 **"Getting out of here! They obviously think I'm just a normal "kill everything" kind of dragon! If I can drop you all off outside of town, I'll let you enter first, then come back when they're less liable to try and kill me!"**

Swerving sharply to avoid more fireballs, then using Whirlwind sprint to dodge a barrage of ice spears, I was forced to dive and turn back, narrowly missing an arc of lightning. A quick Become Ethereal allowed me to pass unharmed through a blockade of fire and ice, only for my path to be blocked by arcing lightning as soon as I became corporeal.

"Where are you going now?!"

Before I could reply, my luck ran out.

Whoever was throwing around the Lightning Storm finally got a hit. Most low level magic spells had little effect on dragons, but this thing was powerful enough to scorch a trail of burned flesh and scales along my wing at the "elbow" joint. As I struggled to re-correct my orientation as I was in the middle of both diving and turning, a series of icy spears managed to catch me, their casters having taken advantage of my temporary loss of maneuverability. While most of them bounced off or shattered against the armor of my chest, a number of them pierced straight through my injured wing.

"Fendotalos!"

 **"I'm all right! Haas Sien Gron!"**

With the spears impaled straight through the weakened membrane, I couldn't heal the wing properly without tearing them out, but I couldn't stop now and risk being peppered with spells.

 **"Wuld Spaan Dwiin"**

A small part of me felt some pity for Beinalbahlok as this was probably only a fraction of what it had been like for him. To be slowly shredded by spell-fire. Even with the shield up, the concussive impacts and explosions could be heard as they detonated on the shield.

 **"We're almost at the mountains!"**

And then just as we were ready to escape, disaster struck. In my eagerness to escape, I had turned my back on my attackers. For a moment all the attacks stopped and we thought we had escaped. And then in a single barrage, they reduced most of my good wing to shredded strips of flesh.

Already lame on one wing, they must have stopped not because they gave up, but to co-ordinate all their attacks at once towards my remaining undamaged wing.

 **"Krif Viing Bo!"**

Crying out the shout in pain did little to stop my slow decent. I was like a plane with damaged wings. The engine still worked, but that alone could not provide enough control surfaces and lift for rapid aerobatics. Attempting to turn my way back to the mountains, another barrage slammed it way into my side, tearing apart what was left of my wing membrane and riddling the side of my chest with spikes and burns. Banking hard in order to put my body between the spells and my passengers, we slowly lost more altitude.

If only I could attack back and annihilate some of them to get some breathing room. It didn't help that I was somewhat limited in my movements in that I not only had to try and protect everybody on my back, but also not do any aerobatics that could put them in danger or snap their bindings that held them on board.

"We're heading away from the mountains, you have to turn back!"

 **"I know! It's jus- argghhh!"**

As another barrage tore into my chest, I realized there was a major difference between spell casters and spell masters. Even the lesser level spells they were throwing about packed a massive punch. It was no wonder this place chewed up dragons like flies. As another lightning attack flashed by, causing me to bleed more altitude, I realized that the fan nickname "The Bug Zapper" was a very apt description of the College.

"To your left!"

 **"Tid Klo Ul!"**

Even as I used Slow Time, I realized it was to late to avoid the latest Lightning Storm. Doing the only thing I could, I rolled onto my side to protect everybody on my back, taking the attack straight to the chest. Moments later, the next magical barrage hit.

It was like being electrocuted, stabbed in the chest with rusty paper clips and having number of drops of hot embers pushed against my chest at the same time. After everything I'd been through, it was nothing major, but the damn thing was, it hurt like hell, was distracting and they were giving me no breathing room or time to heal.

"Look out for that house!"

Suddenly I realized my mistake. That last maneuver had protected everybody on my back, but had caused me to lose too much of my remaining altitude.

 **"Krif Viing Bo!"**

Barely managing to make it over the roof, I was actually able to reach out and kick off with my hind legs to gain some more lift. I desperately needed to heal and get back my maneuverability.

 **"Haas Sien-"**

And then I took a magical barrage to the face.

"Oh God! Your gonna-!"

 **"Brace yourselves! Wuld Spaan Dwiin"**

Blinded, pelted by spells, and constantly shedding momentum thanks to my efforts to try and keep everybody else out of fire, I called a shield around us and leaned back like a plane coming in for a crash landing, in a vain effort to try and protect them.

The shield lasted for about two buildings before it gave out and I went face first through another house, some sort of rock wall and then a snow bank. For a moment I caught air, before with a thrill of horror, I realized we'd gone off the cliff.

"DO SOMETHING!"

 **"KRIF! VIING! BO!"**

Blind, and with no real idea where I was going, I beat my ragged wings and desperately tried to pull up out of the belly-first fall we were in. For a few terrifying seconds our path continued downwards before it finally began to slow and level out, downwards motion being turned into forwards momentum.

Then I connected with the ground, skidding along pebbles, rocks and silt, before smashing face first into the base of the cliff face for what must have been the College's pillar.

Thankfully by that point, we had bleed off enough speed that my face and neck were able to act like the crumple zone of a car in a low speed car-accident; compressing and absorbing the force of the crash, allowing everybody tied to my back to survive mostly unharmed.

"Oh divines. That was not..."

"Let's never do that again."

"Please tell me it isn't always like this when you travel."

"I'd like to say not really Aventus, but yeah. This sort of thing happens a lot."

"Fendotalos? Hey, are you okay?"

Sadly, my face and neck had just acted like the crumple zone of a car in a low speed car-accident. While I doubted a broken neck, shattered ribs, destroyed wings and a broken face could finish me off after the sheer amount of trauma I had often been through in the past, I was definitely concussed and in pain. It didn't help that the pile of rocks my head had buried itself in, was hindering my attempts to use a healing shout.

Trusting that Erika could either heal me, or she and the other could handle themselves while I healed "naturally", I fell into the painless embrace of unconsciousness.

 **Journal Entry #49 Winterhold Welcome**

As I slowly came back to my senses, the most most noticeable thing I could hear was the sounds of a large pissed off crowd.

"-ou damned mages! She said she was the dragonborn! Don't you remember what the traders said!"

"It's a dragon! What were we supposed to think!"

"Dear gods!"

"The White Dragon of Talos was last seen with the dragonborn!"

Amongst the voices of the crowd, I was barely able to make out Erika's.

"Look, could you all take a moment and calm down? Please?"

Sadly the crowd was already rather riled up.

"So she used the thu'um? Any Nord with enough training can! She could be an imposter!"

"It never tried to attack back!"

"It wasn't enough for you to blow up Winterhold again was it! All you do is destroy everything!"

"Blasted mages! You killed the servant of Talos!"

"You bastards!"

"Actually, I've seen him survive worse."

Giving a pained grin at Erika's words, I opened my eyes and barely managed to gurgle out a healing shout.

 **"Haas Sien Gron."**

A hushed silence fell upon the crowd as previously damaged scales and flesh sloughed off and fell from my body, almost instantly being replaced by new muscle, hide and armor that rapidly regenerated to replace what was lost or damaged. With a series of sickening cruches and meaty sounds, my bones fused back together, realigned and popped back into place.

Slowly pulling myself out of the gouge I'd created in the dirt and cliff, I turned and looked to Erika who, along with Lydia, Delphine and an open mouthed Aventus, were standing between me and a shocked looking crowd of towns folk and a bunch of mages. A glance to a number of small dingy and row boats told me how they had gotten here.

 **"How long was I out?"**

The young dragonborn gave an unconcerned shrug.

"About half an hour-ish. You didn't seem too bad, so I thought I'd let you sleep off the landing. I thought it would be easier to deal with the people if they thought you weren't a risk, but apparently we're famous here."

Stretching to make sure everything had healed correctly, I then glanced to the crowd.

 **"Greetings people of Winterhold"**

Silence was what I got in return. In confusion, I looked back to Erika.

 **"Have I healed my face wrong again?"**

A stunned town member spoke up.

"How..."

 **"I'm sorry?"**

"How could you survive that?"

As I tried to figure out how to explain my recovery more eloquently than "I used a thu'um", out of the corner of my eye, I saw Delphine shrug.

"He's a dragon."

"What?"

Everybody now looked in confusion at her as she smiled and thumbed at me.

"He's a dragon"

 **"That still does not really explain anything."**

She shrugged once more.

"I've seen you get reduced to a slab of meat then comeback good as new and with back-up five minutes later. I once saw a Kahjit out run a horse. I've seen an acrobat jump on water. Alchemists regularly do some really ridiculous stuff involving potions and enchantments. I gave up on trying to rationalize some of the more extraordinary things in Tamriel, a long time ago. It hurts your brain less."

A still confused mage slowly stepped forwards.

"Are... are you really the White Dragon of Talos?"

With a small amount of shock, which I luckily managed to keep hidden, I realized I was now facing Onmund, one of the fellow students from the College of Winterhold storyline. And standing just behind him was J'zargo.

Both of them looked like shit. Onmund's robes were ragged and dirty looking. More noticeable however, was that the left sleeve of his robe ended just above the elbow in a shredded and blood stained tear. Judging from the faded color of the blood, the lack of bandages and that he had simply tied his coat in a knot beneath the amputation, he must have lost the limb months back. Probably the cleanest thing on him was the amulet he wore around his neck.

J'zargo wasn't in much better condition. If anything, his robes were worse off than Onmund's, showing signs of having being burned or slashed a number of times, as well a general wear, tear and abuse. His right eye was covered by a cloth eye-patch, the ring and pinkie fingers on his left hand were missing, there were bandages on his tail and he seemed to accidentally singed off patches of fur from his hands.

 **"Indeed I am, mage of Winterhold."**

A series of murmurs ran through the crowd.

"What brings you to Winterhold then?"

 **"The Will of Talos. That currently being to help aid the dragonborn in her defeat of the dragons."**

The crowd murmured once more and the voice of a town member cried out.

"You see what you almost did! You damn mages could have killed them!"

"How were we supposed to know? We thought it was a dragon attack!"

As things looked ready to devolve into a shouting match, Erika climbed atop a boulder next to me, and tried to get the crowds attention.

"Look, could you all quieten down for a minute? We just need-"

"-should have driven you all out of Winterhold after the-"

"-built this city!"

"Destroyed it more like-"

"-all you magic users-"

"Could you all please-"

"-elves and daedra worshipping-"

"-ignorant! Foolish! Imbecilic-"

"Milk-drinking bastar-"

 **"Silence!"**

Everyone imediately shut their traps and turned their attention Erika and I.

"Thank you. Now that we have your attention, I believe that the Dragonborn has something she would like to say."

Erika shuffled awkwardly as all eyes were suddenly on her, before clearing her throat and speaking up.

 **"We...uh, we originally came here seeking."**

She paused for a second and considered her words.

"We seek something of great power, a potential ally, that was supposedly lost or hidden beneath the College sometime after the Dragon War. We believed the mages may be able to help us find it."

The crowd was silent for a moment before J'zargo cautiously spoke up.

"You...seek the aid of the mages of Winterhold?"

Erika paused then nodded.

"Yes. We do."

Almost immediately there was an outcry from the non-magic user portions of the crowd.

"What?! Why them!"

"You should be punishing them for attacking you!"

"What can they tell you that we can't?!"

Before the shouting match could pick up again, I turned to Onmund.

 **"Is there perhaps somewhere we could later meet with those currently in charge? We seek knowledge about the history of a particular dragon said to have made his lair here in Winterhold."**

He nodded nervously.

"That could be arranged. J'zargo and I shall gather everyone who may be of help to you."

I glanced to Erika, who smiled thankfully.

"That would be much appreciated."

Looking back up at the cliffs of Winterhold, and then to the still confused and slightly angry crowd of towns folk, I lazily stretched my wings.

 **"I would suggest that we return to the town now. I do not know about the rest of you, but I believe that this has already been more than enough of a welcome for today."**

To be Continued...


End file.
